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OCT    9^  1950 

Logical  sy*5 


\ 


EXPOSITIONS  OF  HOLY  SCRIPTURE 


Expositions  of  Holy  Scripture 


A  Commenlary  on  the  Entire  Bible, 
to  be  Completed  in  Thirty  Volumes 


ALEXANDER  MACLAREN,  P.P.,   LIT.P. 

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FIRST  SERIES,  SIX  VOLUMES 
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SECOND  SERIES,  SIX  VOLUMES 

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A'. 


THE   GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO 

ST.  JOHN 

CHAPTERS  IX.  TO  XIV. 


■'■w(j;,.,i\ 


BY 

ALEXANDER    MACLAREN 

DD.,  LiTT.D. 


NEW  YORK 

A.  C.  ARMSTRONG  AND  SON 

3  &  5  WEST  EIGHTEENTH  STREET 

LONDON:  HODDER  AND  STOUGHTON 

MCMVin 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


Onb  Metaphor  and  two  Meanings  (John  ix.  4;  Romans 

xiii.  12)  ......         1 

The  Sixth  Miracle  in  John's  Gospel— The  Blind  made 
TO  See,  and  the  Seeing  made  Blind  (John  ix. 
6, 7) 11 

The  Gifts  to  the  Flock  (John  x.  9)            •  •  .24 

The  Good  Shepherd  (John  x.  14, 15)            •  ,  ,       34 

•Other  Sheep' (John  X.  16  R.V.)     .             .  ,  .40 

The  Delays  of  Love  (John  xi.  5,  6)             .  .  .74 

Christ's  Question  to  Each  (John  xi.  26,  27)  ,  .81 

The  Open  Grave  at  Bethany  (John  xi.  30-45)  .  .       01 


VI 


GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN 


Thk  Seventh  Miracle  in  John's  Gospel— The  Raising 

OF  Lazarus  (John  xi.  43,  44)  ...       98 


Caiaphas  (John  xi.  49,  50)     ,             .             .  • 

Love's   Prodigality  Censured  and   Vindicated  (John 

xli.  1-11)           •            •            .            •  . 

A  New  Kind  of  King  (John  xii.  12-26)        , 

After  Christ  :  with  Christ  (John  xii.  26)  . 

The  Universal  Magnet  (John  xii.  32)        ,  . 

The  Son  of  Man  (John  xii.  34)         .             .  • 

A  Parting  Warning  (John  xii.  35,  36  R.V.)  • 

The  Love  of  the  Departing  Christ  (John  xiii.  1) 

The  Servant-Master  (John  xiii.  3-5)           .  • 

The  Dismissal  of  Judas  (John  xiii.  27)       . 

The  Glory  of  the  Cross  (John  xiii.  31,  32)  . 

Cannot  and  Can  (John  xiii.  33)        .             .  '       . 

Seeking  Jesus  (John  xiii.  33)            .             .  . 


107 


119 


125 


131 


140 


150 


162 


170 


180 


190 


199 


210 


217 


CONTENTS  vii 

PAcni 

'  As  I  HAVE  LOVBD '  (John  xiii.  34,  35)  .  ,  .226 


'  Quo  Vadis  ? '  (John  xiii.  37,  38)         .             ,  .  .235 

A  Rash  Vow  (John  xiii.  38)              ...  .243 

Faith  in  God  and  Christ  (John  xiv.  1)      .  •  •     253 

'  Many  Mansions  '  (John  xiv.  2)        .            •  •  •     263 

The  Forerunner  (John  xiv.  2,  3)     .            ,  .  .      272 

The  Way  (John  xiv.  4-7)       .             .             .  .  .281 

The  True  Vision  of  God  (John  xiv.  8-11)   .  .  .      291 

Christ's  Works  and  Ours  (John  xiv.  12-14)  •  ,     301 

Love  and  Obedience  (John  xiv.  15)             •  ,  .     312 

The  Comforter  Given  (John  xiv.  16, 17)      •  •  .      320 

The  Absent  Present  Christ  (John  xiv.  18, 19)  .  .     330 

The  Gifts  op  the  Present  Christ  (John  xiv.  20,  21)  .      340 

Who  bring  Christ  (John  xiv.  22-24)             .  •  .      350 


viii  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN 

PAGB 

The  Teacher  Spirit  (John  xiv.  25,  26)         ,  .  .361 

Christ's  Peace  (John  xiv.  27)  .  .  ,  .372 

Joy   and   Faith,    the   Fruits   of   Christ's   Departure 

(John  xiv.  28, 29)  ....  .      382 

Christ  Foreseeing  His  Passion  (John  xiv.  30,  31)  .      392 


ONE  METAPHOR  AND  TWO  MEANINGS 

'  I  must  work  the  works  of  Him  that  sent  Me,  whUe  it  is  day :  the  night  cometh 
when  no  man  can  work.'— John  ix.  L 

'  The  night  is  far  spent,  the  day  is  at  hand :  let  us  therefore  cast  off  the  works  of 
darkness,  and  let  us  put  on  the  armour  of  light.'— Romans  xiii.  12. 

The  contrast  between  these  two  sayings  will  strike 
you  at  once.  Using  the  same  metaphors,  they  apply 
them  in  exactly  opposite  directions.  In  the  one,  life 
is  the  day,  and  the  state  beyond  death  the  night;  in 
the  other,  life  is  the  night,  and  the  state  beyond  death 
the  day.  Remarkable  as  the  contrast  is,  it  comes  to  be 
still  more  so  if  we  remember  the  respective  speakers. 
For  each  of  them  says  what  we  should  rather  have 
expected  the  other  to  say.  It  would  have  been  natural 
for  Paul  to  have  given  utterance  to  the  stimulus  to 
diligence  caused  by  the  consciousness  that  the  time 
of  work  was  brief ;  and  it  would  have  been  as  natural 
for  Jesus,  who,  as  we  believe,  came  from  God,  from 
the  place  of  the  eternal  supernal  glory,  to  have  said 
that  life  here  was  night  as  compared  with  the  illumina- 
tion that  He  had  known.  But  it  is  the  divine  Master 
who  gives  utterance  to  the  common  human  conscious- 
ness of  a  brief  life  ending  in  inactivity,  and  it  is  the 
servant  who  takes  the  higher  point  of  view. 

So  strange  did  the  words  of  my  first  text  seem  as 
coming  from  our  Lord's  lips,  that  the  sense  of  incon- 
gruity seems  to  have  been  the  occasion  of  the  remark- 
able variation  of  reading  which  the  Revised  Version 
has  adopted  when  it  says  •  We  must  work  the  works 
VOL.  II.  A 


2  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN         [ch.  ix. 

of  Him  that  sent  Me.'  But  that  thought  seems  to  me 
to  be  perfectly  irrelevant  to  our  Lord's  purpose  in 
this  context,  where  He  is  vindicating  His  own  action, 
and  not  laying  down  the  duty  of  His  servants.  He  is 
giving  here  one  of  these  glimpses,  that  we  so  rarely 
get,  into  His  own  inmost  heart.  And  so  we  have  to 
take  the  sharp  contrast  between  the  Master's  thought 
and  the  servant's  thought,  and  to  combine  them,  if  we 
would  think  rightly  about  the  present  and  the  future, 
and  do  rightly  in  the  present. 

I.  Let  me  ask  you  to  look  at  the  Master's  thought 
about  the  present  and  the  future. 

As  I  have  already  said,  our  Lord  gives  utterance 
here  to  the  very  common,  in  fact,  universal  human 
consciousness.  The  contrast  between  the  intense  little 
spot  of  light  and  the  great  ring  of  darkness  round 
about  it ;  between  '  the  warm  precincts  of  the  cheerful 
day '  and  the  cold  solitudes  of  the  inactive  night  has 
been  the  commonplace  and  stock-in-trade  of  moralists 
and  thoughtful  men  from  the  beginning;  has  given 
pathos  to  poetry,  solemnity  to  our  days ;  and  has  been 
the  ally  of  base  as  well  as  of  noble  things.  For  to  say 
to  a  man,  'there  are  twelve  hours  in  the  day  of  life, 
and  then  comes  darkness,  the  blackness  that  swallows 
up  all  activity,'  may  either  be  made  into  a  support  of 
all  lofty  and  noble  thoughts,  or,  by  the  baser  sort, 
may  be,  and  has  been,  made  into  a  philosophy  of  the 
'Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die'  kind; 
'Gather  ye  roses  while  ye  may';  'A  short  life  and  a 
merry  one.'  The  thought  stimulates  to  diligence,  but 
it  does  nothing  to  direct  the  diligence.  It  makes  men 
work  furiously,  but  it  never  will  prevent  them  from 
working  basely.  '  Whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth  to  do, 
do  it  with  thy  might,'  is  a  conclusion  from  the  con- 


V.4]    ONE  METAPHOR:  TWO  MEANINGS  3 

sideration  that '  there  is  neither  wisdom  nor  knowledge 
nor  device  in  the  grave  whither  we  go,'  but  what  the 
hand  should  find  to  do  must  be  settled  from  altogether 
different  considerations. 

Our  Lord  here  takes  the  common  human  point  of 
view,  and  says,  'Life  is  the  time  for  activity,  and  it 
must  be  the  more  diligent  because  it  is  ringed  by  the 
darkness  of  the  night.'  What  precisely  does  our  Lord 
intend  by  His  use  of  that  metaphor  of  the  night? 
No  figures,  we  know,  run  upon  all-fours.  The  point 
of  comparison  may  be  simply  in  some  one  feature 
common  to  the  two  things  compared,  and  so  all  sorts 
of  mischief  may  be  done  by  trying  to  extend  the 
analogy  to  other  features.  Now,  there  are  a  great 
many  points  in  which  day  and  night  may  respectively 
be  taken  as  analogues  of  Life  and  Death  and  the 
state  beyond  death.  There  is  a  'night  of  weeping'; 
there  is  a  '  night  of  ignorance.'  But  our  Lord  Himself 
tells  us  what  is  the  one  point  of  comparison  which 
alone  is  in  His  mind,  when  He  says,  'The  night  cometh, 
when  no  man  can  work.'  It  is  simply  the  night  as 
a  season  of  compulsory  inactivity  that  suggests  the 
comparison  in  our  text.  And  so  we  have  here  the 
presentation  of  that  dear  Lord  as  influenced  by  the 
common  human  motive,  and  feeling  that  there  was 
work  to  be  done  which  must  be  crowded  into  a  definite 
space,  because  when  that  space  was  past,  there  would 
be  no  more  opportunity  for  the  work  to  be  done. 

Look  at  how,  in  the  words  of  my  first  text,  we 
have,  as  I  said,  a  glimpse  into  His  inmost  heart.  He 
lets  us  see  that  all  His  life  was  under  the  solemn 
compulsion  of  that  great  must  which  was  so  often 
upon  His  lips,  that  He  felt  that  He  was  here  to  do  the 
Father's  will,  and  that  that  obligation  lay  upon  Him 


4  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.  ix. 

with  a  pressure  which  He  neither  could,  nor  would  if 
He  could,  have  got  rid  of. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  *  musts '  in  our  lives.  There 
is  the  unwelcome  necessity  which  grips  us  with  iron 
and  sharpened  fangs;  the  needs-be  which  crushes 
down  hopes  and  dreams  and  inclinations,  and  forces 
the  slave  to  his  reluctant  task.  And  there  is  the 
'  must '  which  has  passed  into  the  will,  into  the  heart, 
and  has  moulded  the  inmost  desire  to  conformity  with 
the  obligation  which  no  more  stands  over  against  us  as 
a  taskmaster  with  whip  and  chain,  but  has  passed 
within  us  and  is  there  an  inspiration  and  a  joy.  He 
that  can  say,  as  Jesus  Christ  in  His  humanity  could, 
and  did  say:  'My  meat' — the  refreshment  of  my 
nature,  the  necessary  sustenance  of  my  being — 'is  to 
do  the  will  of  my  Father';  that  man,  and  that  man 
alone,  feels  no  pressure  that  is  pain  from  the  in- 
cumbency of  the  necessity  that  blessedly  rules  His  life. 
When  '  I  will '  and  *  I  choose '  coincide,  like  two  of 
Euclid's  triangles  atop  of  one  another,  line  for  line 
and  angle  for  angle,  then  comes  liberty  into  the  life. 
He  that  can  say,  not  with  a  knitted  brow  and  an 
unwilling  ducking  of  his  head  to  the  yoke,  'I  must 
do  it,'  but  can  say,  '  Thy  law  is  within  my  heart,'  that 
is  the  Christlike,  the  free,  the  happy  man. 

Further,  our  Lord  here,  in  His  thoughts  of  the 
present  and  the  future,  lets  us  see  what  He  thought 
that  the  work  of  God  in  the  world  was.  The  disciples 
looked  at  the  blind  man  sitting  by  the  wayside,  and 
what  he  suggested  to  them  was  a  curious,  half  theo- 
logical, half  metaphysical  question,  in  which  Rabbinical 
subtlety  delighted.  'Who  did  sin,  this  man  or  his 
parents?'  They  only  thought  of  talking  over  the 
theological  problem  involved  in  the  fact  that,  before 


V.4]  ONE  METAPHOR:  TWO  MEANINGS    5 

he  had  done  anything  in  this  world  to  account  for 
the  calamity,  he  was  born  blind.  Jesus  Christ  looked 
at  the  man,  and  He  did  not  think  about  theological 
cobwebs.  What  was  suggested  to  Him  was  to  fight 
against  the  evil  and  abolish  it.  It  is  sometimes  neces- 
sary to  discuss  the  origin  of  an  evil  thing,  of  a  sorrow 
or  a  sin,  in  order  to  understand  how  to  deal  with  and 
get  rid  of  it.  But  unless  that  is  the  case,  our  first 
business  is  not  to  say,  'How  comes  this  about?'  but 
our  business  is  to  take  steps  to  make  it  cease  to  come 
about.  Cure  the  man  first  and  then  argue  to  your 
heart's  content  about  what  made  him  blind,  but  cure  him 
first.  And  so  Jesus  Christ  taught  us  that  the  meaning 
of  the  day  of  life  was  that  we  should  set  ourselves 
to  abolish  the  works  of  the  devil,  and  that  the  work 
of  God  was  that  we  should  fight  against  sin  and 
sorrow,  and  in  so  far  as  it  was  in  our  power,  abolish 
these,  in  all  the  variety  of  their  forms,  in  all  the  vigour 
of  their  abundant  growth.  Sorrow  and  sin  are  God's 
call  to  every  one  of  His  sons  and  daughters  to  set 
themselves  to  cast  them  out  of  His  fair  creation ;  and 
'  the  day '  is  the  opportunity  for  doing  that. 

Our  Lord  here,  as  I  have  already  suggested,  shows 
us  very  touchingly  and  beautifully,  how  entirely  He 
bore  our  human  nature,  and  had  entered  into  our 
conditions,  in  that  He,  too,  felt  that  common  human 
emotion,  and  was  spurred  to  unhasting  and  yet  un- 
resting diligence  by  the  thought  of  the  coming  of  the 
night.  I  suppose  that  although  we  have  few  chrono- 
logical data  in  this  Gospel  of  John,  the  hour  of  our 
Lord's  death  was  really  very  near  at  that  time.  He 
had  just  escaped  from  a  formidable  attempt  upon  His 
life.  'They  took  up  stones  to  stone  Him,  but  He, 
passing  through  the  midst  of  them,  went  His  way,' 


6  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN         [ch.  ix. 

is  the  statement  which  immediately  precedes  the 
account  of  His  meeting  with  this  blind  man.  And 
so  under  the  pressure,  perhaps,  of  that  immediate 
experience  which  revealed  the  depths  of  hatred  that 
was  ready  for  anything  against  Him,  He  gives  utterance 
to  this  expression:  'If  it  be  the  case  that  the  time 
is  at  hand,  then  the  more  need  that,  Sabbath  day  as 
it  is,  I  should  pause  here.'  Though  the  multitude  were 
armed  with  stones  to  stone  Him,  He  stopped  in  His 
flight  because  there  was  a  poor  blind  man  there  whom 
He  felt  that  He  needed  to  cure.  Beautiful  it  is,  and 
drawing  Him  very  near  to  us, — and  it  should  draw  us 
very  near  to  Him — that  thus  He  shared  in  that  essen- 
tially human  consciousness  of  the  limitation  of  the 
power  to  work,  by  the  ring  of  blackness  that  encircled 
the  little  spot  of  illuminated  light. 

But  some  will  say,  '  How  is  it  possible  that  such  a 
consciousness  as  this  should  really  have  been  in  the 
mind  of  Jesus  Christ?'  'Did  He  not  know  that  His 
death  was  not  to  be  the  end  of  His  work?  Did  He 
not  know,  and  say  over  and  over  again,  in  varying 
forms,  that  when  He  passed  from  earth,  it  was  not 
into  inactivity?  Is  it  not  the  very  characteristic  of 
His  mission  that  it  is  different  from  that  of  all  other 
helpers  and  benefactors  and  teachers  of  the  world,  in 
that  His  death  stands  in  the  very  middle  of  His  work, 
and  that  on  the  one  side  of  it  there  is  activity,  and 
on  the  other  side  of  it  there  is  still,  and  in  some  sense 
loftier  and  greater,  activity  ? '  Yes ;  all  that  is  perfectly 
true,  and  I  do  not  for  a  moment  believe  that  our  Lord 
was  forgetting  that  the  life  on  the  earth  was  but  the 
first  volume  of  His  biography,  and  of  the  records  of 
His  deeds,  and  that  He  contemplated  them,  as  He  con- 
templated always,  the  life  beyond,  as  working  in  and 


V.4]   ONE  METAPHOR:  TWO  MEANINGS    7 

on  and  over  and  through  His  servants,  even  unto  the 
end  of  the  world. 

But  you  have  only  to  remember  the  difference 
between  the  earthly  and  the  heavenly  life  of  the 
Lord  fully  to  understand  the  point  of  view  that  He 
takes  here.  The  one  is  the  basis  of  the  other;  the 
one  is  the  seedtime,  the  other  is  the  harvest.  The 
one  has  only  the  limited  years  of  the  earthly  life, 
in  which  it  can  be  done;  the  other  has  the  endless 
years  of  Eternity,  through  which  it  is  to  be  continued 
And  if  any  part  of  that  earthly  life  of  the  Lord  had 
been  void  of  its  duty,  and  of  its  discharge  of  the 
Father's  will,  not  even  He,  amidst  the  blaze  of  the 
heavenly  glory,  could  have  thereafter  filled  up  the 
tiny  gap.  All  the  earthly  years  were  needed  to  be 
filled  with  service,  up  to  the  great  service  and  sacrifice 
of  the  Cross,  in  order  that  upon  them  might  be  reared 
the  second  stage  and  phase  of  His  heavenly  life.  With 
regard  to  the  one.  He  said  on  the  Cross,  '  It  is  finished.' 
But  when  He  died  He  passed  not  into  the  night  of 
inactivity,  but  into  the  day  of  greater  service.  And 
that  higher  and  heavenly  form  of  His  work  continues, 
and  not  until '  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  are  become 
the  kingdoms  of  our  God  and  of  His  Christ,'  and  the 
whole  benefit  and  effect  of  His  earthly  life  are  imparted 
to  the  whole  race  of  man,  will  it  be  said,  '  It  is  done,' 
and  the  angels  of  heaven  proclaim  the  completion  of 
His  work  for  man.  But  seeing  that  that  work  has 
its  twofold  forms,  Jesus,  like  us,  had  to  be  conscious 
of  the  limitations  of  life,  and  of  the  night  that  followed 
the  day. 

II.  And  now  turn,  in  the  second  place,  to  the  servant's 
thought. 

As  I  have  already  pointed  out,  it  is  the  precise  reversal 


8  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.ix. 

of  the  other.  What  to  Christ  is  *  day '  to  Paul  is  '  night.' 
What  to  Christ  is  '  night '  to  Paul  is  '  day.'  Now  the  first 
point  that  I  would  make  is  this,  that  the  future  would 
never  have  been  *  day '  to  Paul  if  Jesus  had  not  gone 
down  into  the  darkness  of  the  'night.'  I  have  said 
that  there  was  only  one  point  of  comparison  in  our 
Lord's  mind  between  night  and  death.  But  we  may 
venture  to  extend  the  figure  a  little,  and  to  say  that 
the  Light  went  into  the  'valley  of  the  shadow  of  Death,' 
and  lit  it  up  from  end  to  end.  The  Life  went  into 
the  palace  of  Death,  and  breathed  life  into  all  there. 
There  is  a  great  picture  by  one  of  the  old  monkish 
masters,  on  the  walls  of  a  Florentine  convent,  which 
represents  the  descent  of  Jesus  to  that  dim  region 
of  the  dead.  Around  Him  there  is  a  halo  of  light 
that  shines  into  the  gloomy  corridor,  up  which  the 
thronging  patriarchs  and  saints  of  the  Old  Dispensa- 
tion are  coming,  with  outstretched  hands  of  eager 
welcome  and  acceptance,  to  receive  the  blessing.  Ah ! 
it  is  true,  'the  people  that  walked  in  darkness  have 
seen  a  great  Light;  and  to  them  that  dwelt  in  the 
region  of  the  shadow  of  death,  unto  them  hath  the 
Light  shined.'  Christ  the  Light  has  gone  down  into 
the  darkness,  and  what  to  Him  was  night  He  has 
made  for  us  day.  Just  as  Scripture  all  but  confines 
the  name  of  death  to  Christ's  experience  upon  the 
Cross,  and  by  virtue  of  that  experience  softens  it  down 
for  the  rest  of  us  into  the  blessed  image  of  sleep,  so 
the  Master  has  turned  the  night  of  death  into  the 
dawning  of  the  day. 

Further,  to  the  servant  the  brightness  of  that  future 
day  dimmed  all  earth's  garish  glories  into  darkness. 
It  was  because  Paul  saw  the  Beyond  flaming  with  such 
lustre  that   the  nearer   distance   to   him  seemed   to 


V.4]    ONE  METAPHOR:  TWO  MEANINGS  9 

have  sunk  into  gloom.  Just  as  a  man  or  other  object 
between  you  and  the  western  sky  when  the  sun  is 
there  will  be  all  dark,  so  earth  with  heaven  behind 
it  becomes  a  mere  shadowy  outline.  The  day  that  is 
beyond  outshines  all  the  lustres  and  radiances  of  earth, 
and  turns  them  into  darkness.  You  go  into  a  room 
out  of  blazing  tropical  sunshine,  and  it  is  all  gloom 
and  obscurity.  He  whose  eyes  are  fixed  on  the  day 
that  is  to  come  will  find  that  here  he  walks  as  one 
in  the  night. 

And  the  brightness  of  that  day,  as  well  as  the 
darkness  of  the  present  night,  directed  the  servant 
as  to  what  he  should  be  diligent  in.  Since  it  is  true 
that '  the  day  is  at  hand,'  let  us  put  on  .the  armour  of 
light,  and  dress  ourselves  in  garb  fitting  for  it.  Since 
it  is  true  that  'the  night  is  far  spent'  let  us  put  off 
the  works  of  darkness. 

III.  And  so  that  brings  me  to  the  last  point,  and 
that  is  the  combination  of  the  Master's  and  the  servant's 
thought,  and  the  effect  that  it  should  produce  upon  us. 

It  is  not  enough  either  for  our  hearts  or  our  minds 
that  we  should  say  'the  night  cometh  when  no  man 
can  work.'  Life  is  day,  but  it  is  night  also.  Death 
is  night  but  it  is  dawning  as  well.  We  cannot  under- 
stand either  the  present  or  the  future  unless  we  link 
them  together.  That  death  which  is  the  cessation  of 
activity  in  one  aspect,  is,  for  Christ's  servants,  as  truly 
as  for  Christ,  the  beginning  of  an  activity  in  a  higher 
and  nobler  form.  I  do  not  believe  in  a  heaven  of  rest, 
meaning  by  that,  inaction ;  I  still  less  believe  in  a  death 
which  puts  an  end  to  the  activity  of  the  human  spirit. 
I  believe  that  this  world  is  our  school,  our  apprentice- 
ship, the  place  where  we  learn  our  trade  and  exercise 
our  faculties,  where  we  paint  the  picture,  as  it  were, 


10  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.ix. 

which  we  offer  when  we  desire  to  be  admitted  to  tho 
great  guild  of  artists,  and  according  to  the  result  of 
which,  in  the  eye  of  the  Judge,  is  oiir  place  hereafter. 
What  the  Germans  call  'proof  pieces' — that  is  the 
meaning  of  life.  And  though  '  the  night  cometh  when 
no  man  can  work,'  the  day  cometh  when  the  char- 
acters we  have  made  ourselves  here,  the  habits  we 
have  cultivated  and  indulged  in,  the  capacities  we  have 
exercised,  and  the  set  and  drift  of  all  our  activity 
upon  earth,  will  determine  the  work  that  we  get  to 
do  there. 

So  then,  stereoscoping  these  two  thoughts,  we  get 
the  solid  image  that  results  from  them  both.  And 
it  teaches  us  not  only  diligence,  and  thus  supplies 
stimulus,  but  it  determines  the  direction  of  our  dili- 
gence, and  thus  supplies  guidance.  We  ought  to  be 
misers  of  our  time  and  opportunities.  Jesus  Christ 
said,  'I  must  work  the  work  of  Him  that  sent  Me 
while  it  is  day ;  the  night  cometh.'  How  much  more 
ought  you  and  I  to  say  so?  And  some  of  us  ought 
very  specially  to  say  it,  and  to  feel  it,  because  the 
hour  when  we  shall  have  to  lay  down  our  tools  is 
getting  very  near,  and  the  shadows  are  lengthening. 
If  you  had  been  in  the  fields  in  these  summer  evenings 
during  the  last  few  days,  you  would  have  seen  the 
haymakers  at  work  with  more  and  more  diligence  as 
the  evening  drew  on  darker  and  darker.  Dear  friends, 
some  of  us  are  at  the  eleventh  hour.  Let  us  fill  it  with 
diligent  work.    The  night  cometh. 

But  my  texts  not  only  stimulate  to  diligence,  but 
they  direct  the  diligence.  If  it  be  that  there  is  a  day 
beyond,  and  that  Christ's  folk  are  '  the  children  of  the 
day,'  then  'let  us  not  sleep  as  do  others,  but  let  us 
watch  and  be  sober.'    We  have  to  cast  ourselves  on 


V.  4]  THE  SIXTH  MIRACLE  11 

Him  as  our  Saviour,  to  love  Him  as  our  Lord  and 
Friend,  to  take  Him  as  our  Pattern  and  our  Guide,  our 
Help,  our  Light, and  our  Life.  And  then  we  shall  neither 
be  deceived  by  life's  garish  splendours  nor  oppressed  by 
its  gloom  and  its  sorrow ;  we  shall  neither  shrink  from 
that  last  moment,  as  a  night  of  inaction,  nor  be  too 
eager  to  cast  off  the  burden  of  our  present  work,  but 
we  shall  cheerfully  toil  at  what  will  prepare  us  for 
•the  day,'  and  the  bell  at  night  that  rings  us  out  of 
mill  and  factory  will  not  be  unwelcome,  for  it  will 
ring  us  in  to  higher  work  and  nobler  service.  The 
transition  will  be  like  one  of  those  summer  nights  in 
the  Arctic  circle,  when  the  sun  does  not  dip.  Through 
a  little  thin  film  of  less  light  we  shall  pass  into  the 
perfect  day,  where  'the  Lord  God  Almighty  and  the 
Lamb  are  the  light  thereof,'  and  'there  shall  be  no 
m.ore  night.' 


THE  SIXTH  MIRACLE  IN  JOHN'S  GOSPEL— THE 
BLIND  MADE  TO  SEE,  AND  THE  SEEING 
MADE  BLIND 

'When  Jesus  had  thus  spoken,  He  spat  on  the  ground,  and  made  clay  of  the 
spittle,  and  He  anointed  the  eyes  of  the  blind  man  with  the  clay,  7.  And  said  unto 
hira,  Go,  wash  in  the  Pool  of  Siloam,  (which  is  by  interpretation.  Sent).  He  went 
his  way,  therefore,  and  washed,  and  came  seeing.'— John  ix.  6,  7. 

The  proportionate  length  at  which  this  miracle  and 
its  accompanying  effects  are  recorded,  indicates  very 
clearly  the  Evangelist's  idea  of  their  relative  import- 
ance. Two  verses  are  given  to  the  story  of  the  miracle ; 
all  the  rest  of  the  chapter  to  its  preface  and  its  issues. 
It  was  a  great  thing  to  heal  a  man  that  was  blind  from 
his  birth,  but  the  story  of  the  gradual  illumination  of 
his  spirit  until  it  came  to  the  full  light  of  the  percep- 


12  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.ix. 

tion  of  Christ  as  the  Son  of  God,  was  far  more  to  the 
Evangelist,  and  ought  to  be  far  more  to  us  than  giving 
the  outward  eye  power  to  discern  the  outward  light. 

The  narrative  has  a  prologue  and  an  epilogue,  and 
the  true  point  of  view  from  which  to  look  at  it  is  found 
in  the  solemn  words  with  which  our  Lord  closes  the 
incident.  '  For  judgment  am  I  come  into  this  world, 
that  they  which  see  not  might  see,  and  that  they  which 
see  might  be  made  blind.' 

So  then  the  mere  sign,  important  as  it  is,  is  the  least 
thing  that  we  have  to  look  at  in  our  contemplations 
now. 

I.  We  have  here  our  Lord  unveiling  His  deepest 
motives  for  bestowing  an  unsought  blessing. 

It  is  remarkable,  I  think,  that  out  of  the  eight 
miracles  recorded  in  this  Gospel,  there  is  only  one  in 
which  our  Lord  responds  to  a  request  to  manifest  His 
miraculous  power ;  the  others  are  all  spontaneous. 

In  the  other  Gospels  He  heals  sometimes  because  of 
the  pleading  of  the  sufferer;  sometimes  because  of 
the  request  of  compassionate  friends  or  bystanders ; 
sometimes  unasked,  because  His  own  heart  went  out 
to  those  that  were  in  pain  and  sickness.  But  in  John's 
Gospel,  predominantly  we  have  the  Son  of  God,  who 
acts  throughout  as  moved  by  His  own  deep  heart. 
That  view  of  Christ  reaches  its  climax  in  His  own  pro- 
found words  about  His  own  laying  down  of  His  life: 
*I  came  forth  from  the  Father,  and  am  come  into  the 
world.  Again,  I  leave  the  world  and  go  unto  the 
Father.'  So,  not  so  much  influenced  by  others  as  deriv- 
ing motive  and  impulse  and  law  from  Himself,  He 
moves  upon  earth  a  fountain  and  not  a  reservoir,  the 
Originator  and  the  Beginner  of  the  blessings  that 
Ha  bears. 


V8.6,7]  THE  SIXTH  MIRACLE  18 

And  that  is  the  point  of  view  from  which  most 
strikingly  the  prologue  of  our  narrative  sets  forth  His 
action  in  the  miracle  here.  *  As  Jesus  passed  by,'  says 
the  story,  '  He  saw  a  man  which  was  blind  from  his 
birth.'  He  fixes  His  eye  upon  him.  No  cry  from  the 
blind  man's  lips  draws  Him.  He  sits  there  unconscious 
of  the  kind  eyes  that  were  fastened  upon  him.  The 
disciples  stand  at  Christ's  side,  and  have  no  share  in 
His  feelings.  They  ask  Him  to  do  nothing.  To  them  the 
blind  man  is — what  ?  A  theological  problem.  No  trace 
of  pity  touches  their  hearts.  They  do  not  even  seem 
to  have  reckoned  upon  or  expected  Christ's  miraculous 
intervention.  And  that  is  a  very  remarkable  feature 
in  the  Gospels.  At  all  events,  they  evidently  do  not 
expect  it  here ;  but  all  that  the  sight  of  this  lifelong 
sufferer  does  in  them  is  to  raise  a  question,  '  Who  did 
sin ;  he  or  his  parents  ? '  Perhaps  they  do  not  quite  see 
to  the  bottom  of  the  alternative  that  they  are  suggest- 
ing ;  and  we  need  not  trouble  ourselves  to  ask  whether 
there  was  a  full-blown  notion  of  the  pre-existence  of 
the  man's  soul  in  their  minds  as  they  ask  the  question. 
Perhaps  they  remembered  the  impotent  man  to  whom 
our  Lord  said, '  Go  and  sin  no  more  lest  a  worse  thing 
come  unto  thee.'  And  they  may  have  thought  that 
they  had  His  sanction  to  the  doctrine — as  old  as  Job's 
friends — that  wherever  there  was  great  suffering  there 
must  first  have  been  great  sin. 

That  is  all  that  the  sight  of  sorrow  does  for  some 
people.  It  leads  to  censorious  judgments,  or  to  mere 
idle  and  curious  speculations.  Christ  lets  us  see  what 
it  did  for  Him,  and  what  it  is  meant  to  do  for  us. 
*  Neither  hath  this  man  sinned  nor  his  parents,  but  he  is 
born  blind  that  the  works  of  God  may  be  made  manifest 
in  him,'  That  is  to  say,  human  sorrow  is  to  be  looked  at 


14  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.ix. 

by  us  as  an  opportunity  for  the  manifestation  through 
us  of  God's  mercy  in  relieving  and  stanching  the 
wounds  through  which  the  lifeblood  is  ebbing  away. 
Do  not  stand  coldly  curious  or  uncharitably  censorious. 
Do  not  make  miserable  men  theological  problems,  but 
see  in  them  a  call  for  service.  See  in  them  an  oppor- 
tunity for  letting  the  light  of  God,  so  much  of  it  as  is 
in  you,  shine  from  you,  and  your  hands  move  in  works 
of  mercy. 

And  then  the  Master  goes  on  to  state  still  more  dis- 
tinctly the  law  which  dominated  His  life,  and  which 
ought  to  dominate  ours :  '  I  must  work  the  works  of 
Him  that  sent  Me  while  it  is  day;  the  night  cometh 
when  no  man  can  work.'  Then  poor  men's  misery  is 
an  occasion  for  the  love  of  God  manifesting  itself. 
Yes.  But  the  love  of  God  manifests  itself  through 
human  media,  through  persons;  and  if  we  adopt  the 
reading  of  these  words  which  you  will  find  in  the 
Revised  Version,  and  instead  of  saying  '/  must  work,' 
read  '  We  must  work,'  then  we  have  Christ  extending 
the  law  which  ruled  over  His  own  life  to  all  His 
followers,  and  making  it  supremely  obligatory  and 
binding  upon  each  of  us.  He  for  His  part,  as  I  have 
said,  moves  through  this  Gospel  as  the  Son  of  God, 
whose  mercy,  and  all  whose  doings  are  self-originated. 
But  the  other  side  of  that  is  that  He  moves  through 
this  Gospel  in  the  humble  attitude  of  filial  obedience, 
ever  recognising  that  the  Father's  will  is  supreme  in 
His  life ;  and  that  He  is  bound,  with  an  obligation 
in  which  He  rejoices,  to  do  the  will  of  Him  that  sent 
Him.  The  consciousness  of  a  mission,  the  sense  of 
filial  obedience,  the  joyful  surrender  and  harmonising 
of  the  will  of  the  Son  with  the  will  of  the  Father; 
these  things  were  the  secret  of  the  Master's  life. 


vs. 6, 7]  THE  SIXTH  MIRACLE  15 

And  coupled  with  them,  even  in  Him  there  was  the 
consciousness  that  time  was  short;  and  although  be- 
yond the  Cross  and  the  grave  there  stretched  for  Him 
an  eternity  in  which  He  would  work  for  the  blessing 
of  the  world,  yet  the  special  work  which  He  had  to  do, 
while  wearing  the  veil  and  weakness  of  flesh,  had  but 
few  days  and  hours  in  which  it  could  be  done.  There- 
fore, as  we  ought  to  do,  He  worked  under  the  limita- 
tions of  mortality,  and  recognised  in  the  brevity  of  life 
another  call  to  eager  and  continuous  service. 

These  were  His  motives  which,  in  common  with  Him, 
we  may  share.  But  He  adds  another  in  which  we  have 
no  share ;  and  declares  the  unique  consciousness  which 
ever  stirred  Him  to  His  self-manifesting  and  God- 
manifesting  acts :  '  As  long  as  I  am  in  the  world  I  am 
the  Light  of  the  world.' 

Thus,  moved  by  sorrow,  recognising  in  man's  misery 
the  dumb  cry  for  help,  seeing  in  it  the  opportunity  for 
the  manifestation  of  the  higher  mercy  of  God  ;  taking 
all  evil  to  be  the  occasion  for  a  brighter  display  of  the 
love  and  the  good  which  are  divine;  feeling  that  His 
one  purpose  upon  earth  was  to  crowd  the  moments 
with  obedience  to  the  will,  and  with  the  doing  of  the 
works  of  Him  that  sent  Him ;  and  possessing  the  sole 
and  strange  consciousness  that  from  His  person  streams 
out  all  the  light  which  illuminates  the  world  —  the 
Christ  pauses  before  the  unconscious  blind  man,  and 
looking  upon  the  poor,  useless  eyeballs,  unaware  how 
near  light  and  sight  stood,  obeys  the  impulse  that 
shapes  His  whole  life,  '  and  when  He  had  spoken  thus^ 
proceeds  to  the  strange  cure. 

II.  So  we  come,  in  the  next  place,  to  consider  Christ 
as  veiling  His  power  under  material  means. 

There  is  only  one  other   instance    in    the  Gospels 


16  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN         [ch.ix. 

where  a  miracle  is  wrought  in  the  singular  fashion 
which  is  here  employed,  namely,  the  healing  of  the 
deaf-mute  recorded  in  Mark's  Gospel,  where,  in  like 
manner,  our  Lord  makes  clay  of  the  spittle,  and  anoints 
the  ears  of  the  deaf  man  with  the  clay.  The  variety  of 
method  in  our  Lord's  miracles  serves  important  pur- 
poses, as  teaching  us  that  the  methods  are  nothing, 
and  that  He  moved  freely  amongst  them  all,  the  real 
cause  in  every  case  being  one  and  the  same,  the  bare 
forth-putting  of  His  will ;  and  teaching  us  further  that 
in  each  specific  case  there  were  reasons  in  the  moral 
and  religious  condition  of  the  persons  operated  upon 
for  the  adoption  of  the  specific  means  employed,  which 
we  of  course  have  no  means  of  discovering.  There  is 
here,  first  then,  healing  by  material  means.  The  clay 
had  no  power  of  healing ;  the  water  of  Siloam  had  no 
power  of  healing.  The  thing  that  healed  was  Christ's 
will,  but  He  uses  these  externals  to  help  the  poor  blind 
man  to  believe  that  he  is  going  to  be  healed.  He  con- 
descends to  drape  and  veil  His  power  in  order  that  the 
dim  eye,  unaccustomed  to  the  light,  may  look  upon  that 
shadowed  representation  of  it  when  it  could  not  gaze 
upon  the  pure  brightness;  as  an  eye  may  look  upon 
a  shaded  lamp  which  could  not  bear  its  brilliance  un- 
sof  tened  and  naked. 

This  healing  by  material  means  in  order  to  accommo- 
date Himself  to  the  weak  faith  which  He  seeks  to 
evoke,  and  to  strengthen  thereby,  is  parallel,  in 
principle,  to  His  own  Incarnation,  and  to  His  appoint- 
ment of  external  ritfes  and  ordinances.  Baptism,  the 
Lord's  Supper,  a  visible  Church,  outward  means  of 
worship,  and  so  on,  all  these  come  under  that  same 
category.  There  is  no  life  nor  power  in  them  except 
His  will  works  through  them,  but  they  are  crutches 


vs.  6, 7]  THE  SIXTH  MIRACLE  17 

and  helps  for  a  weak  and  sense-bound  faith  to  climb  to 
the  apprehension  of  the  spiritual  reality.  It  is  not  the 
clay,  it  is  not  the  water,  it  is  not  the  Church,  the  ordi- 
nances, the  outward  worship,  the  form  of  prayer,  the 
sacrament — it  is  none  of  these  things  that  have  the 
healing  and  the  grace  in  them.  They  are  only  ladders 
by  which  we  may  ascend  to  Him.  So  let  us  neither 
presumptuously  antedate  the  time  when  we  shall  be 
able  to  do  without  them — the  Heaven  in  *  which  there 
is  no  Temple' — nor  grovellingly  and  superstitiously 
elevate  them  to  a  place  of  importance  and  of  power  in 
the  Christian  life  which  Christ  never  meant  them 
to  fill.  He  heals  through  material  means;  the  true 
source  of  healing  is  His  own  loving  will. 

Further,  He  heals  at  a  distance.  We  have  here  a 
parallel  with  the  story  of  the  nobleman's  son  at 
Capernaum,  which  we  have  already  considered.  There, 
too,  we  have  the  same  phenomenon,  the  healing 
power  sent  forth  from  the  Master,  and  operating 
far  away  from  His  corporeal  personal  presence. 
This  was  a  test  of  faith,  as  the  use  of  the  clay  had 
been  a  help  to  faith.  Still  He  works  His  healing 
from  afar,  because  to  Him  there  is  neither  near  nor 
far.  In  His  divine  ubiquity,  that  Son  of  Man,  who 
in  His  glorified  manhood  is  at  the  right  hand  of 
God  the  Father  Almighty,  is  here  and  everywhere 
where  there  are  weakness  and  suffering  that  turn 
to  Him ;  ready  to  help,  ready  to  bless  and  heal. 
*Lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of 
the  world.' 

Our  Evangelist  sees  in  the  very  name  of  that  fountain 

in  which  the  man  washed,  a  symbol  which  is  not  to  be 

passed  by.     'Go,  wash  in  the  Pool  of  Siloam,'  which, 

says  John,  •  is  by  interpretation,  SenU   We  have  heard 

VOL.  II.  B 


18  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.  ix. 

already  about  the  Pool  of  Siloam  in  this  section  o£  the 
Gospel.  In  Chapter  vii.  we  read,  '  In  the  last  day,  that 
great  day  of  the  Feast,  Jesus  stood,  and  said,  "  If  any 
man  thirst  let  him  come  to  Me  and  drink.'"  These 
words  were  probably  spoken  on  the  last  day  of  the 
Feast  of  Tabernacles,  on  which  one  part  of  the  cere- 
monial was  the  drawing,  with  exuberant  rejoicing,  of 
water  from  the  Pool  of  Siloam,  and  bearing  it  up  to  the 
Temple.  In  these  words  Christ  pointed  to  that  fountain 
which  rises  '  fast  by  the  oracles  of  God,'  and  wells  up 
from  beneath  the  hill,  that  on  which  the  Temple  is 
built,  as  being  a  symbol  of  Himself. 

And  here  the  Evangelist  would  have  us  suppose  that, 
in  like  manner,  the  very  name  which  the  fountain  bore 
(whether  as  being  an  outgush  from  beneath  the  Temple 
rock,  or  whether  as  being  the  gift  of  God)  as  applicable 
to  Himself.  The  lesson  to  be  learned  is  that  the 
fountain  in  which  we  have  to  be  cleansed  'from  sin 
and  from  uncleanness,'  whose  waters  are  the  lotion 
that  will  give  eyesight  to  the  blind,  the  true  '  fountain 
of  perpetual  youth,'  which  men  have  sought  for  in 
every  land,  is  Christ  Himself.  In  Him  we  have  the 
welling  forth  of  the  heart  of  God,  the  water  of  life,  the 
water  of  gladness,  the  immortal  stream  of  which 
•  whoso  drinketh  shall  never  thirst,'  and  which,  touch- 
ing the  blind  eyeballs,  washes  away  obscuration  and 
gives  new  power  of  vision. 

III.  Then,  still  further,  we  have  here  our  Lord  sus- 
pending healing  on  obedience. 

'Go  and  wash.'  As  He  said  to  the  impotent  man: 
'  Stretch  forth  thine  hand ' ;  as  He  said  to  the  paralytic 
in  this  Gospel :  '  Take  up  thy  bed  and  walk ' ;  so  here 
He  says,  '  Go  and  wash.'  And  some  friendly  hand  being 
stretched  out  to  the  blind  man,  or  he  himself  feeling 


vs.  6, 7]         THE  SIXTH  MIRACLE  19 

his  way  over  the  familiar  path,  he  comes  to  the  pool 
and  washes,  and  returns  seeing. 

There  is  a  double  lesson  there,  on  which  I  have  no 
need  to  dwell.  There  is,  first,  the  general  truth  that 
healing  is  suspended  by  Christ  on  compliance  with 
His  conditions.  He  does  not  simply  say  to  any  man.  Be 
whole.  He  could  and  did  say  so  sometimes  in  regard 
to  bodily  healing.  But  He  cannot  do  so  as  regards  the 
cure  of  our  blind  souls.  To  the  sin-sick  and  sin-blinded 
man  He  says, '  Thou  shalt  be  whole,  if ' — or  '  I  will  make 
thee  whole,  provided  that' — what? — provided  that  thou 
goest  to  the  fountain  where  He  has  lodged  the  healing 
power.  The  condition  on  which  sight  comes  to  the 
blind  is  compliance  with  Christ's  invitation,  'Come  to 
Me ;  trust  in  Me ;  and  thou  shalt  be  whole.' 

Then  there  is  a  special  lesson  here,  and  that  is, 
Obedience  brings  sight.  '  If  any  man  will  do  His  will 
he  shall  know  of  the  doctrine.'  Are  there  any  of  you 
groping  in  darkness,  compassed  about  with  theological 
perplexities  and  religious  doubts?  Obey  what  you 
know.  Do  what  you  see  clearly  you  ought  to  do.  Bow 
your  wills  to  the  recognised  truth.  He  who  has  turned 
all  his  knowledge  into  action  will  get  more  knowledge 
as  soon  as  he  needs  it.  '  Go  and  wash ;  and  he  went, 
and  came  seeing.' 

IV.  And  now,  lastly,  we  have  here  our  Lord  shadow- 
ing His  highest  work  as  the  Healer  of  blind  souls. 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  enter  upon  that  wonderfully 
dramatic  and  instructive  narrative  which  follows  the 
account  of  the  miracle,  and  describe  the  controversies 
between  the  sturdy,  quick-witted,  candid,  blind  man, 
and  the  narrow,  bitter  Pharisees.  But  just  notice  one 
or  two  points. 

The  two  parties  are  evidently  represented  as  types 


20  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.ix. 

of  two  contrasted  classes.  The  blind  man  stands  for  an 
example  of  honest  ignorance,  knowing  itself  ignorant, 
and  not  to  be  coaxed  or  frightened  or  in  any  way  pro- 
voked to  pretending  to  knowledge  which  it  does  not 
possess ;  firmly  holding  by  what  it  does  know,  and 
because  conscious  of  its  little  knowledge,  therefore 
waiting  for  light  and  willing  to  be  led.  Hence  he  is  at 
once  humble  and  sturdy,  docile  and  independent,  ready 
to  listen  to  any  voice  which  can  really  teach,  and 
formidably  quick  to  prick  with  wholesome  sarcasm 
the  inflated  claims  of  mere  official  pretenders.  The 
Pharisees,  on  the  other  hand,  are  sure  that  they  know 
everything  that  can  be  known  about  anything  in  the 
region  of  religion  and  morality,  and  in  their  absolute 
confidence  of  their  absolute  possession  of  the  truth,  in 
their  blank  unconsciousness  that  it  was  more  than  their 
official  property  and  stock-in-trade,  in  their  complete 
incapacity  to  discern  the  glory  of  a  miracle  which  con- 
travened ecclesiastical  proprieties  and  conventionalities, 
in  their  contempt  for  the  ignorance  which  they  were 
responsible  for  and  never  thought  of  enlightening,  in 
their  cruel  taunt  directed  against  the  man's  calamity, 
and  in  their  swift  resort  to  the  weapon  of  excommuni- 
cation of  one  whom  it  was  much  easier  to  cast  out  than 
to  answer,  are  but  too  plain  a  type  of  a  character  which 
is  as  ready  to  corrupt  the  teachers  of  the  Church  as  of 
the  synagogue. 

One  cannot  but  notice  how  constantly  the  phrase 
*We  know'  occurs.  The  parents  of  the  man  use  it 
thrice.  The  Pharisees  have  it  on  their  lips  in  their 
first  interview  with  him :  '  "We  know  that  this  man  is  a 
sinner.'  He  answers,  declining  to  affirm  anything 
about  the  character  of  the  Man  Jesus,  because  he,  for 
his    part,    'knows   not,'   but   standing  firmly  by  the 


vs.  6, 7]  THE  SIXTH  MIRACLE  21 

solid  reality  which  he  '  knows,'  in  a  very  solid  fashion, 
that  his  eyes  have  been  opened.  So  we  have  the  first 
encounter  between  knowledge  which  is  ignorant,  and 
ignorance  which  knows,  to  the  manifest  victory  of  the 
latter.  Again,  in  the  second  round,  they  try  to  over- 
bear the  man's  cool  sarcasm  with  their  vehement  asser- 
tion of  knowledge  that  God  spake  to  Moses,  but  by  the 
admission  that  even  their  knowledge  did  not  reach  to 
the  determination  of  the  question  of  the  origin  of 
Jesus'  mission,  lay  themselves  open  to  the  sudden 
thrust  of  keen-eyed,  honest  humility's  sharp  rapier- 
like retort.  'Herein  is  a  marvellous  thing,'  that  you 
Knoio-alls,  whose  business  it  is  to  know  where  a  pro- 
fessed miracle- worker  comes  from,  'know  not  from 
whence  He  is,  and  yet  He  hath  opened  mine  eyes.' 
•Now  ice  knoio'  (to  use  your  own  words)  'that  God 
heareth  not  sinners,  but  if  any  man  be  a  worshipper 
of  God,  and  doeth  His  will,  him  He  heareth.' 

Then  observe  how,  on  both  sides,  a  process  is  going 
on.  The  man  is  getting  more  and  more  light  at  each 
step.  He  begins  with  'a  Man  which  is  called  Jesus.' 
Then  he  gets  to  a  '  prophet,'  then  he  comes  to  '  a  wor- 
shipper of  God,  and  one  that  does  His  will.'  Then 
he  comes  to,  '  If  this  man  were  not  of  God,'  in  some 
very  special  sense,  '  He  could  do  nothing.'  These  are 
his  own  reflections,  the  working  out  of  the  impres- 
sion made  by  the  fact  on  an  honest  mind ;  and  because 
he  had  so  used  the  light  which  he  had,  therefore  Jesus 
gives  him  more,  and  finds  him  with  the  question,  '  Dost 
thou  believe  on  the  Son  of  God  ? '  Then  the  man  who 
had  shown  himself  so  strong  in  his  own  convictions,  so 
independent,  and  hard  to  cajole  or  coerce,  shows  him- 
self now  all  docile  and  submissive,  and  ready  to  accept 
whatever  Jesus  says :  *  Lord,  who  is  He,  that  I  might 


22  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.ix. 

believe  on  Him  ? '  That  was  not  credulity.  He  already 
knew  enough  of  Christ  to  know  that  he  ought  to  trust 
Him.  And  to  his  docility  there  is  given  the  full 
revelation ;  and  he  hears  the  words  which  Pharisees 
and  unrighteous  men  were  not  worthy  to  hear :  '  Thou 
hast  both  seen  Him — with  these  eyes  to  which  I  have 
given  sight — and  it  is  He  that  talketh  with  thee.'  Then 
intellectual  conviction,  moral  reliance,  and  the  utter 
prostration  and  devotion  of  the  whole  man  bow  him 
at  Christ's  feet.  '  Lord,  I  believe ;  and  He  worshipped 
Him.' 

There  is  the  story  of  the  progress  of  an  honest, 
ignorant  soul  that  knew  itself  blind,  into  the  illumina- 
tion of  perfect  vision. 

And  as  he  went  upwards,  so  steadily  and  tragically, 
downwards  went  the  others.  For  they  had  light  and 
they  would  not  look  at  it ;  and  it  blasted  and  blinded 
them.  They  had  the  manifestation  of  Christ,  and 
they  scoffed  and  jeered  at  it,  and  turned  their  backs 
upon  it,  and  it  became  a  curse  to  them ;  falling  not 
like  dew  but  like  vitriol  on  their  spirits,  blistering,  not 
refreshing. 

Therefore  Christ  pronounces  their  fate,  and  sums  up 
the  story  in  the  solemn  two-edged  sentence :  '  For 
judgment  am  I  come  into  the  world,  tbat  they  which 
see  not  might  see,  and  that  they  which  see  might  be 
made  blind.' 

The  purpose  of  His  coming  is  not  to  judge,  but  to 
save.  But  if  men  will  not  let  Him  save,  the  effect  of 
His  coming  will  be  to  harm.  Therefore,  His  coming 
will  separate  men  into  two  parts,  as  a  magnet  will 
draw  all  the  iron  filings  out  of  a  heap  and  leave  the 
brass.  He  comes  not  to  judge,  but  His  coming  does 
judge.    He  is  set  for  the  rise  or  for  the  fall  of  men. 


vs.  6, 7]  THE  SIXTH  MIRACLE  23 

and  is  *  a  discerner  of  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the 
heart.' 

Light  has  a  twofold  effect.  It  is  torture  to  the 
diseased  eye ;  it  is  gladdening  to  the  sound  one.  Christ 
is  the  light,  as  He  is  also  both  the  power  of  seeing  and 
the  thing  seen.  Therefore,  it  cannot  but  be  that  His 
shining  upon  men's  hearts  shall  judge  them,  and  shall 
either  enlighten  or  darken. 

We  all  have  eyes — the  organs  by  which  we  may  see 
*  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God.'  We 
have  all  blinded  ourselves  by  our  sin.  Christ  is  come  to 
show  us  God,  to  be  the  light  by  which  we  see  God,  and 
to  strengthen  and  restore  our  faculty  of  seeing  Him. 
If  you  welcome  Him,  and  take  Him  into  your  hearts,  He 
will  be  at  once  light  and  eyesight  to  you.  But  if  you 
turn  away  from  Him  He  will  be  blindness  and  darkness 
to  you.  He  comes  to  pour  eyesight  on  the  blind,  but 
He  comes  therefore  also,  most  assuredly,  to  make  still 
blinder  those  who  do  not  know  themselves  to  be  blind, 
and  conceit  themselves  to  be  clear-sighted.  '  I  thank 
Thee,  Father,  that  Thou  hast  hid  these  things  from  the 
wise  and  prudent,  and  hast  revealed  them  unto  babes.' 

They  who  see  themselves  to  be  blind,  who  know 
themselves  to  be  ignorant,  the  lowly  who  recognise 
their  sinfulness  and  misery  and  helplessness,  and  turn 
in  their  sore  need  to  Christ,  will  be  led  by  paths  of 
growing  knowledge  and  blessedness  to  the  perfect  day 
where  their  strengthened  vision  will  be  able  to  see  light 
in  the  blaze  which  to  us  now  is  darkness.  They  who 
say  '  I  see,'  and  know  not  that  they  are  miserable  and 
blind,  nor  hearken  to  His  counsel  to  '  anoint  their  eyes 
with  eye  salve  that  they  may  see,'  will  have  yet  another 
film  drawn  over  their  eyes  by  the  shining  of  the  light 
which  they  reject,  and  will  pass  into  darkness  where 


24  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.x. 

only  enough  of  light  and  of  eyesight  remain  to  make 
guilt.  Jesus  Christ  is  for  us  light  and  vision.  Trust  to 
Him,  and  your  eyes  will  be  blessed  because  they  see 
God.  Turn  from  Him  and  Egyptian  darkness  will 
settle  on  your  soul.  '  To  him  that  hath  shall  be  given, 
and  from  him  that  hath  not,  even  that  which  he  hath 
shall  be  taken  away.' 


THE  GIFTS  TO  THE  FLOCK 

I ,  .  By  Me  if  any  man  enter  in,  he  shall  be  saved,  and  shall  go  in  and  out,  and 
find  pasture.'— John  x.  9. 

One  does  not  know  whether  the  width  or  the  depth 
of  this  marvellous  promise  is  the  more  noteworthy. 
Jesus  Christ  presents  Himself  before  the  whole  race 
of  man,  and  declares  Himself  able  to  deal  with  the 
needs  of  every  individual  in  the  tremendous  whole. 
'  If  any  man ' — no  matter  who,  where,  when. 

For  all  noble  and  happy  life  there  are  at  least  three 
things  needed :  security,  sustenance,  and  a  field  for  the 
exercise  of  activity.  To  provide  these  is  the  end  of  all 
human  society  and  government.  Jesus  Christ  here 
says  that  He  can  give  all  these  to  every  one. 

The  imagery  of  the  sheep  and  the  fold  is  still,  of 
course,  in  His  mind,  and  colours  the  form  of  the 
representation.  But  the  substance  is  the  declaration 
that,  to  any  and  every  soul,  no  matter  how  ringed 
about  with  danger,  no  matter  how  hampered  and 
hindered  in  work,  no  matter  how  barren  of  all  supply 
earth  may  be.  He  will  give  these,  the  primal  requisites 
of  life.  'He  shall  be  saved,  and  shall  go  in  and  out, 
and  find  pasture.' 

Now  I  only  wish  to  deal  with  these  three  aspects  of 


V.  9]        THE  GIFTS  TO  THE  FLOCK         25 

the  blessedness  of  a  true  Christian  life  which  our  Lord 
holds  forth  here  as  accessible  to  us  all:  security,  the 
unhindered  exercise  of  activity,  and  sustenance  or 
provision. 

I.  First,  then,  in  and  through  Christ  any  man  may 
be  saved. 

I  take  it  that  the  word  •  saved '  here  is  rather  used 
with  reference  to  the  imagery  of  the  parable  than  in 
its  full  Christian  sense  of  ultimate  and  everlasting 
salvation,  and  that  its  meaning  in  its  present  connec- 
tion might  perhaps  better  be  set  forth  by  the  ren- 
dering '  safe '  than  '  saved.'  At  the  same  time,  the  two 
ideas  pass  into  one  another ;  and  the  declaration  of  my 
text  is  that  because,  step  by  step,  conflict  by  conflict,  in 
passing  danger  after  danger,  external  and  internal, 
Jesus  Christ,  through  our  union  with  Him,  will  keep 
us  safe,  at  the  last  we  shall  reach  eternal  and  ever- 
lasting salvation.  *He  will  save  us'  by  the  continual 
exercise  of  His  protecting  power, '  into  His  everlasting 
kingdom.'  There  is  none  other  shelter  for  men's 
defenceless  heads  and  naked,  soft,  unarmed  bodies 
except  only  the  shelter  that  is  found  in  Him.  There 
are  creatures  of  low  grade  in  the  animal  world  which 
have  the  instinct,  because  their  own  bodies  are  so 
undefended  and  impotent  to  resist  contact  with  sharp 
and  penetrating  substances,  that  they  take  refuge  in 
the  abandoned  shells  of  other  creatures.  You  and  I 
have  to  betake  ourselves  behind  the  defences  of  that 
strong  love  and  mighty  Hand  if  ever  we  are  to  pass 
through  life  without  fatal  harm. 

For  consider  that,  even  in  regard  to  outward  dangers, 
union  with  Jesus  Christ  defends  and  delivers  us.  Sup- 
pose two  men,  two  Manchester  merchants,  made  bank- 
rupt by  the  same  commercial  crisis ;  or  two  shipwrecked 


26  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.x. 

sailors  lashed  upon  a  raft ;  or  two  men  sitting  side  by- 
side  in  a  railway  carriage  and  smashed  by  the  same 
collision.  One  is  a  Christian  and  the  other  is  not.  The 
same  blow  is  altogether  different  in  aspect  and  actual 
effect  upon  the  two  men.  They  endure  the  same  thing 
externally,  in  body  or  in  fortune.  The  outward  man  is 
similarly  affected,  but  the  man  is  differently  affected. 
The  one  is  crushed,  or  embittered,  or  driven  to  despair, 
or  to  drink,  or  to  something  or  other  to  soothe  the 
bitterness;  the  other  bows  himself  with  'It  is  the 
Lord !     Let  Him  do  what  seemeth  Him  good.' 

So  the  two  disasters  are  utterly  different,  though  in 
form  they  may  be  the  same,  and  he  that  has  entered 
into  the  fold  by  Jesus  Christ  is  safe,  not  from  outward 
disaster — that  would  be  but  a  poor  thing — but  in  it. 
For  to  the  true  heart  that  lives  in  fellowship  with 
Jesus  Christ,  Sorrow,  though  it  be  dark-robed,  is  bright- 
faced,  soft-handed,  gentle-hearted,  an  angel  of  God. 
'  By  Me  if  any  man  enter  in,  he  shall  be  safe.' 

And  further,  in  our  union  with  Jesus  Christ,  by 
simple  faith  in  Him  and  loyal  submission  and  obedi- 
ence, we  do  receive  an  impenetrable  defence  against 
the  true  evils,  and  the  only  things  worth  calling 
dangers.  For  the  only  real  evil  is  the  peril  that  we 
shall  lose  our  confidence  and  be  untrue  to  our  best 
selves,  and  depart  from  the  living  God.  Nothing  is 
evil  except  that  which  tempts,  and  succeeds  in  tempt- 
ing, us  away  from  Him.  And  in  regard  to  all  such 
danger,  to  cleave  to  Christ,  to  realise  His  presence,  to 
think  of  Him,  to  wear  His  name  as  an  amulet  on  our 
hearts,  to  put  the  thought  of  Him  between  us  and 
temptation  as  a  filter  through  which  the  poisonous  air 
shall  pass,  and  be  deprived  of  its  virus,  is  the  one  secret 
of  safety  and  victory. 


V.  9]        THE  GIFTS  TO  THE  FLOCK  27 

Real  gift  of  power  from  Jesus  Christ,  the  influx  of 
His  strength  into  our  weakness,  of  some  portion  of  the 
Spirit  of  life  that  was  in  Him  into  our  deadness,  is  pro- 
mised, and  the  promise  is  abundantly  fulfilled  to  all 
men  who  trust  Him  when  their  hour  of  temptation 
comes.  As  the  dying  martyr,  when  he  looked  up 
into  heaven,  saw  Jesus  Christ  'standing  at  the  right 
hand  of  God'  ready  to  help,  and,  as  it  were,  having 
started  from  His  eternal  seat  on  the  Throne  in  the 
eagerness  of  His  desire  to  succour  His  servant,  so  we 
may  all  see,  if  we  will,  that  dear  Lord  ready  to  succour 
us,  and  close  by  our  sides  to  deliver  us  from  the  evil  in 
the  evil,  its  power  to  tempt.  If  we  could  carry  that 
vision  into  our  daily  life,  and  walk  in  its  light,  when 
temptation  rings  us  round,  how  poor  all  the  induce- 
ments to  go  away  from  Him  would  look ! 

There  is  a  power  in  the  remembrance  of  Jesus 
to  slay  every  wicked  thought;  and  the  things  that 
tempt  us  most,  that  most  directly  appeal  to  our  worst 
sides,  to  our  sense,  our  ambition,  our  pride,  our  dis- 
trust, our  self-will,  all  these  lose  their  power  upon  us, 
and  are  discovered  in  their  emptiness  and  insignifi- 
cance, when  once  this  thought  flashes  across  the  mind — 
Jesus  Christ  is  my  Defence,  and  Jesus  Christ  is  my 
Pattern  and  my  Companion. 

Oh,  brother !  do  not  trust  yourself  out  amongst  the 
pitfalls  and  snares  of  life  without  Him.  If  you  do,  the 
real  evil  of  all  evils  will  seize  you  for  its  own ;  but  keep 
close  to  that  dear  Lord,  and  then  '  there  shall  no  evil 
befall  thee,  neither  shall  any  plague  come  nigh  thy 
dwelling.'  The  hidden  temptation  thou  wilt  pass  by 
without  being  harmed ;  the  manifest  temptation  thou 
wilt  trample  under  foot.  '  Thou  shalt  not  be  afraid  for 
the  pestilence  that  walketh  in  darkness,  nor  for  the 


28  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.x. 

destruction  that  wasteth  at  noonday.'  Hidden  and 
known  temptations  will  be  equally  powerless;  and  in 
the  fold  into  which  all  pass  by  faith  in  Christ  thou 
shalt  be  safe.  And  so,  kept  safe  from  each  danger  and 
in  each  moment  of  temptation,  the  aggregate  and  sum 
of  the  several  deliverances  will  amount  to  the  ever- 
lasting salvation  which  shall  be  perfected  in  the 
heavens. 

Only  remember  the  condition,  'By  Me  if  any  man 
enter  in.'  That  is  not  a  thing  to  be  done  once  for 
all,  but  needs  perpetual  repetition.  When  we  clasp 
anything  in  our  hands,  however  tight  the  initial  grasp, 
unless  there  is  a  continual  effort  of  renewed  tighten- 
ing, the  muscles  become  lax,  and  we  have  to  renew 
the  tension,  if  we  are  to  keep  the  grasp.  So  in  our 
Christian  life  it  is  only  the  continual  repetition  of  the 
act  which  our  Lord  here  calls  'entering  in  by  Him' 
that  will  bring  to  us  this  continual  exemption  from, 
and  immunity  in,  the  dangers  that  beset  us. 

Keep  Christ  between  you  and  the  storm.  Keep  on 
the  lee  side  of  the  Rock  of  Ages.  Keep  behind  the 
breakwater,  for  there  is  a  wild  sea  running  outside ; 
and  your  little  boat,  undecked  and  with  a  feeble  hand 
at  the  helm,  will  soon  be  swamped.  Keep  within  the 
fold,  for  "wolves  and  lions  lie  in  every  bush.  Or,  in 
plain  English,  live  moment  by  moment  in  the  realising 
of  Christ's  presence,  power,  and  grace.  So,  and  only  so, 
shall  you  be  safe. 

II.  Now,  secondly,  note,  in  Jesus  Christ  any  man 
may  find  a  field  for  the  unrestricted  exercise  of  his 
activity. 

That  metaphor  of  'going  in  and  out'  is  partly  ex- 
plained to  us  by  the  image  of  the  flock,  which  passes 
into    the    fold   for    peaceful   repose,  and    out   again, 


▼.9]        THE  GIFTS  TO  THE  FLOCK         29 

without  danger,  for  exercise  and  food;  and  is  partly 
explained  by  the  frequent  use,  in  the  Old  Testament 
and  in  common  conversation,  of  the  expression  *  going 
out  and  in '  as  the  designation  of  the  two-sided  activity 
of  human  life.  The  one  side  is  the  contemplative  life 
of  interior  union  with  God  by  faith  and  love;  the 
other,  the  active  life  of  practical  obedience  in  the 
field  of  work  which  God  provides  for  us.  These  two 
are  both  capable  of  being  raised  to  their  highest  power, 
and  of  being  discharged  with  the  most  unrestricted  and 
joyous  activity,  on  condition  of  our  keeping  close  to 
Christ,  and  living  by  the  faith  of  Him. 

Note,  then, '  He  shall  go  in.'  That  comes  first,  though 
it  interferes  with  the  propriety  of  the  metaphor, 
since  the  previous  words  already  contemplate  an  initial 
'entering  in  by  Me,  the  Door.'  That  is  to  say,  that, 
given  the  union  with  Jesus  Christ  by  faith,  there  must 
then,  as  the  basis  of  all  activity,  follow  very  frequent 
and  deep  inward  acts  of  contemplation,  of  faith,  and 
aspiration,  and  desire.  You  must  go  into  the  depths 
of  God  through  Christ.  You  must  go  into  the  depths 
of  your  own  souls  through  Him.  You  must  become 
accustomed  to  withdraw  yourselves  from  spreading 
yourselves  out  over  the  distractions  of  any  external 
activity,  howsoever  imperative,  charitable,  or  neces- 
sary, and  live  alone  with  Jesus, '  in  the  secret  place  of 
the  Most  High.'  It  is  through  Him  that  we  have 
access  to  the  mysteries  and  innermost  shrine  of  the 
Temple.  It  is  through  Him  that  we  draw  near  to  the 
depths  of  Deity.  It  is  through  Him  that  we  learn  the 
length  and  breadth  and  height  and  depth  of  the 
largest  and  loftiest  and  noblest  truths  that  concern 
the  spirit.  It  is  through  Him  that  we  become  familiar 
with  the  inmost  secrets  of  our  own  selves.    And  only 


30  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.x. 

they  who  habitually  live  this  hidden  and  sunken  life  of 
solitary  and  secret  communion  will  ever  do  much  in 
the  field  of  outward  work.  Christians  of  this  genera- 
tion are  far  too  much  accustomed  to  live  only  in  the 
front  rooms  of  the  house,  that  look  out  upon  the 
street;  and  they  know  very  little — far  too  little  for 
their  soul's  health,  and  far  too  little  for  the  freshness 
of  their  work  and  its  prosperity — of  that  inward  life 
of  silent  contemplation  and  expectant  adoration,  by 
which  all  strength  is  fed.  Do  not  keep  all  your  goods 
in  the  shop  windows,  and  have  nothing  on  your  shelves 
but  dummies,  as  is  the  case  with  far  too  many  of  us 
to-day.  Remember  that  the  Lord  said  first,  '  He  shall 
go  in,'  and  unless  you  do  you  will  not  be  '  saved.' 

But  then,  further,  if  there  have  been,  and  continue 
to  be,  this  unrestricted  exercise  through  Christ  of  that 
sweet  and  silent  life  of  solitary  communion  with  Him, 
then  there  will  follow  upon  that  an  enlargement  of 
opportunity,  and  power  for  outward  service  such  as 
nothing  but  emancipation  by  faith  in  Him  can  ever 
bring.  Howsoever,  by  external  circumstances,  you  and 
I  may  be  hampered  and  hindered,  however  often  we 
may  feel  that  if  something  outside  of  us  were  different, 
the  development  of  our  active  powers  would  be  far 
more  satisfactory,  and  we  could  do  a  great  deal  more 
in  Christ's  cause,  the  true  hindrance  lies  never  with- 
out, but  within ;  and  it  is  only  to  be  overcome  by  that 
plunging  into  the  depths  of  fellowship  with  Him.  And 
then,  if  w^e  carry  with  us  into  the  field  of  work,  whether 
it  be  the  commonplace,  dusty,  tedious,  and  often  repul- 
sive duties  of  our  monotonous  business ;  or  whether  it 
be  the  field  of  more  distinctly  unselfish  and  Christian 
service — if  we  carry  with  us  into  all  places  where  we 
go  to  labour,  the  sweet  thought  of  His  presence,  of  His 


V.  9]         THE  GIFTS  TO  THE  FLOCK  31 

example,  of  His  love,  and  of  the  smile  that  may  come 
on  His  face  as  the  reward  of  faithful  service,  then  we 
shall  find  that  external  labour,  drawing  its  pattern,  its 
motive,  its  law,  and  the  power  for  its  discharge,  from 
communion  with  Him,  is  no  more  task-w^ork  nor 
slavery;  and  even  'the  rough  places  will  be  made 
smooth,  and  the  crooked  things  will  be  made  straight,' 
and  distasteful  work  will  be  made  at  least  tolerable, 
and  hard  burdens  will  be  lightened,  and  the  things  that 
are  'seen  and  temporal'  will  shimmer  into  transparency, 
through  which  will  shine  out  the  things  that  are 
'  unseen  and  eternal.' 

Some  of  us  are  constitutionally  made  to  prefer  the 
one  of  these  forms  of  Christian  activity ;  some  of  us  to 
prefer  the  other.  The  tendencies  of  this  generation 
are  far  too  much  to  the  latter,  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
former.  It  is  hard  to  reconcile  the  conflicting  claims, 
and  I  know  of  no  better  way  to  hit  the  just  medium 
than  by  trying  to  keep  ourselves  always  in  touch  with 
Jesus  Christ,  and  then  outward  labour  of  any  sort, 
whether  for  the  bread  that  perishes  or  for  His  king- 
dom and  righteousness,  will  never  become  so  absorbing 
but  that  in  it  we  may  have  our  hearts  in  heaven,  and 
the  silent  hour  of  communion  with  Him  will  never  be 
so  prolonged  as  to  neglect  outward  duties.  There  was 
a  demoniac  boy  in  the  plain,  and  therefore  it  was  im- 
possible to  build  tabernacles  on  the  Mount  of  Trans- 
figuration. But  the  disciples  that  had  not  climbed  the 
Mount  were  all  impotent  to  cast  out  the  demoniac  boy. 
We,  if  we  keep  near  to  Jesus  Christ,  will  find  that 
through  Him  we  can  'go  in  and  out,'  and  in  both  be 
pursuing  the  one  uniform  purpose  of  serving  and 
pleasing  Him.  So  shall  be  fulfilled  in  our  cases  the 
Psalmist's  prayer,  that  'I  may  dwell  in  the  house  of 


32  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.x. 

the  Lord  all  the  days  of  my  life,  to  behold  His  beauty, 
and  to  inquire  in  His  Temple.' 

III.  Lastly,  in  Jesus  Christ  any  man  may  receive 
sustenance.    '  They  shall  find  pasture.' 

The  imagery  of  the  sheep  and  the  fold  is  still,  of 
course,  present  to  the  Master's  mind,  and  shapes  the 
form  in  which  this  great  promise  is  set  forth. 

I  need  only  remind  you,  in  illustration  of  it,  of  two 
facts,  one,  that  in  Jesus  Christ  Himself  all  the  true 
needs  of  humanity  are  met  and  satisfied.  He  is  'the 
Bread  of  God  that  came  down  from  heaven  to  give 
life  to  the  world.'  Do  I  want  an  outward  object  for 
my  intellect  ?  I  have  it  in  Him.  Does  my  heart  feel 
with  its  tendrils,  which  have  no  eyes  at  the  ends  of 
them,  after  something  round  which  it  may  twine,  and 
not  fear  that  the  prop  shall  ever  rot  or  be  cut  down  or 
pulled  up  ?  Jesus  Christ  is  the  home  of  love  in  which 
the  dove  may  fold  its  wings  and  be  at  rest.  Do  I  want 
(and  I  do  if  I  am  not  a  fool)  an  absolute  and  authorita- 
tive command  to  be  laid  upon  my  will;  some  one 
'whose  looks  enjoin,  whose  lightest  words  are  spells'? 
I  find  absolute  authority,  with  no  taint  of  tyranny, 
and  no  degradation  to  the  subject,  in  that  Infinite  Will 
of  His.  Does  my  conscience  need  some  strong  deter- 
gent to  be  laid  upon  it  which  shall  take  out  the  stains 
that  are  most  indurated,  inveterate,  and  ingrained? 
I  find  it  only  in  the  '  blood  that  cleanseth  from  all  sin.' 
Do  my  aspirations  and  desires  seek  for  some  solid  and 
substantial  and  unquestionable  and  imperishable  good 
to  which,  reaching  out,  they  may  be  sure  that  they  are 
not  anchoring  on  cloudland  ?  Christ  is  our  hope.  For 
all  this  complicated  and  craving  commonwealth  that 
I  carry  within  my  soul,  there  is  but  one  satisfaction, 
even  Jesus  Christ  Himself.    Nothing  else  nourishes  the 


V.9]        THE  GIFTS  TO  THE  FLOCK  83 

whole  man  at  once,  but  in  Him  are  all  the  constituents 
that  the  human  system  requires  for  its  nutriment  and 
its  growth  in  every  part.  So  in  and  through  Christ  we 
find  '  pasture.' 

But  beyond  that,  if  we  are  knit  to  Him  by  simple 
and  continual  faith,  love,  and  obedience,  then  what  is 
else  barrenness  becomes  full  of  nourishment,  and  the 
unsatisfying  gifts  of  the  world  become  rich  and  pre- 
cious. They  are  nought  when  they  are  put  first,  they 
are  much  when  they  are  put  second. 

I  remember  when  I  was  in  Australia  seeing  some 
wretched  cattle  trying  to  find  grass  on  a  yellow  pas- 
ture where  there  was  nothing  but  here  and  there  a 
brown  stalk  that  crumbled  to  dust  in  their  mouths  as 
they  tried  to  eat  it.  That  is  the  world  without  Jesus 
Christ.  And  I  saw  the  same  pasture  six  weeks 
after,  when  the  rains  had  come,  and  the  grass  was 
high,  rich,  juicy,  satisfying.  That  is  what  the  world 
may  be  to  you,  if  you  will  put  it  second,  and  seek  first 
that  your  souls  shall  be  fed  on  Jesus  Christ.  Then, 
and  only  then,  will  what  is  else  water  be  turned  by 
His  touch  and  blessing  into  wine  that  shall  fill  the 
great  jars  to  the  brim,  and  be  pronounced  by  skilled 
palates  to  be  the  good  wine.  'I  will  feed  them  in  a 
good  pasture,  and  upon  the  high  mountains  of  Israel 
shall  their  fold  be.  There  shall  they  lie  in  a  good  fold, 
and  in  a  fat  pasture  shall  they  feed  upon  the  mountains 
of  Israel.' 


VOL.  n. 


THE  GOOD  SHEPHERD 

'  I  am  the  Good  Shepherd,  and  know  My  sheep,  and  am  known  of  Mine.  15.  As 
the  Father  knoweth  Me,  even  so  know  I  the  Father :  and  I  lay  down  My  life  for 
the  sheep.'— John  x.  14, 15. 

*  I  AM  the  Good  Shepherd.'  Perhaps  even  Christ  never 
spoke  more  fruitful  words  than  these.  Just  think  how 
many  solitary,  wearied  hearts  they  have  cheered,  and 
what  a  wealth  of  encouragement  and  comfort  there 
has  been  in  them  for  all  generations.  The  little  child 
as  it  lays  itself  down  to  sleep,  cries — 

♦  Jesus,  tender  Shepherd,  hear  me, 
Bless  Thy  little  lamb  to-night,' 

and  the  old  man  lays  himself  down  to  die  murmuring 
to  himself,  '  Though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  Death,  I  will  fear  no  evil,  for  Thou  art 
with  me.'  'I  am  the  Good  Shepherd.'  No  preaching 
can  do  anything  but  weaken  and  dilute  the  force  of 
such  words,  and  yet,  though  in  all  their  sweet,  homely 
simplicity  they  appeal  to  every  heart,  there  are  great 
depths  in  them  that  are  worth  pondering,  and  pro- 
found thoughts  that  need  some  elucidation. 

There  are  three  points  to  be  noticed — First,  the 
general  force  of  the  metaphor,  and  then  the  two 
specific  applications  of  it  which  our  Lord  Himself 
makes. 

I.  First  of  all,  then,  let  me  say  a  few  words  as  to  the 
general  application  of  the  metaphor.  The  usual  notion 
of  these  words  confines  itself  to  the  natural  meaning, 
and  runs  out  into  very  true,  but  perhaps  a  little 
sentimental,  considerations,  laying  hold  of  what  is  so 
plain  on  the  very  surface  that  I  need  not  spend  any 

84 


vs.  14, 15]      THE  GOOD  SHEPHERD  35 

time  in  speaking  about  it.  Christ's  pattern  is  my 
law;  Christ's  providence  is  my  guidance  and  defence 
— which  in  the  present  case  means  Christ's  companion- 
ship— is  my  safety,  my  sustenance — which  in  the  pre- 
sent case  means  that  Christ  Himself  is  the  bread  of 
my  soul.  The  Good  Shepherd  exercises  care,  which 
absolves  the  sheep  from  care,  and  in  the  present  case 
means  that  my  only  duty  is  meek  following  and  quiet 
trust.  *I  am  the  Good  Shepherd' — here  is  guidance, 
guardianship,  companionship,  sustenance — all  responsi- 
bility laid  upon  His  broad  shoulders,  and  all  tender- 
ness in  His  deep  heart,  and  so  for  us  simple  obedience 
and  quiet  trust. 

Another  way  by  which  we  get  the  whole  signifi- 
cance of  this  symbol  is  by  noticing  how  the  idea 
is  strengthened  by  the  word  that  accompanies  it. 
Christ  does  not  say  '  I  am  a  Shepherd,'  but  He  says, 
*  I  am  the  good  Shepherd.'  At  first  sight  that  word 
•good'  is  interpreted,  as  I  have  said,  in  a  kind  of 
sentimental,  poetic  way,  as  expressing  our  Lord's 
tenderness  and  love  and  care ;  but  I  do  not  think  that 
is  the  full  meaning  here.  You  find  up  and  down  this 
Gospel  of  St.  John  phrases  such  as,  'I  am  the  true 
bread,'  'I  am  the  true  vine,'  and  the  meaning  of  the 
word  that  is  here  translated  'good'  is  very  nearly 
parallel  with  that  idea.  The  true  bread,  the  true  vine, 
the  true  Shepherd — which  comes  to  this,  to  use  modern 
phraseology,  that  Jesus  Christ,  in  His  relation  to  you 
and  me,  fulfils  all  that  in  figure  and  shadow  is  repre- 
sented to  the  meditative  eye  by  that  lower  relation- 
ship between  the  material  shepherd  and  his  sheep. 
That  is  the  picture,  this  the  reality.  There  is  another 
point  to  be  made  clear,  and  that  is,  that  whilst  the 
word  'good'  is  perhaps  a  fair  enough  representation 


36  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN         [ch.x. 

of  that  which  is  employed  by  our  Lord,  there  is  a 
special  force  and  significance  attached  to  the  original, 
which  is  lost  in  our  Bible.  I  do  not  know  that  it 
could  have  been  preserved ;  but  still  it  is  necessary  to 
state  it.  The  expression  here  is  the  one  that  is 
generally  rendered  'fair,'  or  'lovely,'  or  'beautiful,' 
and  it  belongs  to  the  genius  of  that  wonderful  tongue 
in  which  the  New  Testament  is  written  that  it  has  a 
name  for  moral  purity,  considered  as  being  lovely,  the 
highest  goodness,  and  the  serenest  beauty,  which  was 
what  the  old  Greeks  taught,  howsoever  little  they 
may  have  practised  it  in  their  lives.  And  so  here  the 
thought  is  that  the  Shepherd  stands  before  us,  the 
realisation  of  all  which  that  name  means,  set  forth  in 
such  a  fashion  as  to  be  infinitely  lovely  and  perfectly 
fair,  and  to  draw  the  admiration  of  any  man  who  can 
appreciate  that  which  is  beautiful,  and  can  admire  that 
which  is  of  good  report. 

There  is  another  point  still  in  reference  to  this  first 
view  of  the  text.  Our  Lord  not  only  declares  that  He 
is  the  reality  of  which  the  earthly  shepherd  is  the 
shadow,  and  that  He  as  such  is  the  flawless,  perfect  One, 
but  that  He  alone  is  the  reality.  '  I  am  the  Good  Shep- 
herd ;  in  Me  and  in  Me  alone  is  that  which  men  need.' 
And  that  leads  me  to  another  point  which  must  just  be 
mentioned,  that  we  shall  not  reach  the  full  meaning  of 
these  great  words  without  taking  into  account  the 
history  of  the  metaphor  in  the  Old  Testament.  Christ 
gives  a  second  edition  of  the  figure,  and  we  are  to  re- 
member all  that  went  before.  '  The  Lord  is  my  Shep- 
herd, I  shall  not  want ' ; '  Thou  leddest  Thy  people  like  a 
flock,  by  the  hand  of  Moses  and  Aaron.'  These  are 
but  specimens  of  a  continuous  series  of  utterances  in 
the  old  Revelation  in  which  Jehovah  Himself  is  the 


vs.  u,  15]     THE  GOOD  SHEPHERD  87 

Shepherd  of  mankind;  and  there  is  also  another 
class  of  passages  of  which  I  will  quote  one  or  two. 
*He  shall  feed  His  flock  like  a  shepherd,  and  carry 
them  in  His  arms.'  'Awake,  O  sword,  against  the 
Man  who  is  my  fellow ;  smite  the  Shepherd,  and  the 
sheep  shall  be  scattered.'  There  were,  we  should 
remember,  two  streams  of  representation,  according 
to  the  one  of  which  God  Himself  was  the  Shepherd  of 
Israel,  and  according  to  the  other  of  which  the  Messiah 
was  the  Shepherd ;  and  here,  as  I  believe,  Jesus  lays 
His  hand  on  both  the  one  and  the  other,  and  says: 
'They  are  Mine,  and  they  testify  of  Me.'  So  sweet, 
so  gracious  are  the  words,  that  we  lose  the  sense  of 
the  grandeur  of  them,  and  need  to  think  before  we 
are  able  to  understand  how  great  and  immense  the 
claim  that  is  made  here  upon  our  faith,  and  that  this 
Man  stands  before  us  and  arrogates  to  Himself  the 
divine  prerogative  witnessed  from  of  old  by  psalmist 
and  prophet,  and  says  that  for  Him  were  meant  the 
prophecies  of  ancient  times  that  spake  of  a  human 
shepherd,  and  asserts  that  all  the  sustenance,  care, 
authority,  command,  which  the  emblem  suggests  meet 
in  Him  in  perfect  measure. 

II.  Now  let  us  turn  to  the  two  special  points  which 
our  Lord  emphasises  here,  as  being  those  in  which  His 
relation  as  the  Good  Shepherd  is  most  conspicuously 
given.  The  language  of  my  text  runs  :  '  I  am  the  Good 
Shepherd,  and  know  My  sheep,  and  am  known  of 
Mine.  As  the  Father  knoweth  Me,  even  so  know  I 
the  Father.'  Our  Western  ways  fail  to  bring  out  the 
full  meaning  of  the  emblem  ;  but  all  Eastern  travellers 
tell  us  what  a  strange  bond  of  sympathy  and  loving 
regard,  and  docile  recognition,  springs  up  between  the 
shepherd   and  his  sheep  away  there  in  the  Eastern 


38  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.x. 

pastures  and  deserts;  and  how  he  knows  every  one, 
though  to  a  stranger's  eye  they  are  so  like  each  other ; 
and  how  even  the  dumb  instincts  and  the  narrow  intelli- 
gence of  the  silly  sheep  recognise  the  shepherd,  and 
will  not  be  deceived  by  shepherd's  garments  worn  to 
deceive,  and  will  not  follow  the  voice  of  a  stranger. 

But  we  must  further  note  that  Christ  lays  hold 
of  the  dumb  instincts  of  the  animal,  as  illustrating, 
at  the  one  end  of  the  scale,  the  relation  between  Him 
and  His  followers,  and  lays  hold  of  the  communion 
between  the  Father  and  the  Son  at  the  other  end  of 
the  scale,  as  illustrating  the  same  thing.  *  I  know  My 
sheep.'  That  is  a  knowledge  like  the  knowledge  of 
the  shepherd,  a  bond  of  close  intimacy.  But  He  does 
not  know  them  by  reason  of  looking  at  them  and 
thinking  about  them.  It  is  something  far  more  blessed 
than  that.  He  knows  me  because  He  loves  me ;  He 
knows  me  because  He  has  sympathy  with  me,  and  I 
know  Him,  if  I  know  Him  at  all,  by  my  love,  and  I 
know  Him  by  my  sympathy,  and  I  know  Him  by  my 
communion.  A  loveless  heart  does  not  know  the 
Shepherd,  and  unless  the  Shepherd's  heart  was  all 
love  He  would  not  know  His  sheep.  The  Shepherd's 
love  is  an  individualised  love.  He  knows  His  flock  as 
a  flock  because  He  knows  the  units  of  it,  and  we  can 
rest  ourselves  upon  the  personal  knowledge,  which  ia 
personal  love  and  sympathy,  of  Jesus  Christ.  'And 
My  sheep  know  Me ' — not  by  force  of  intellect,  not  by 
understanding  certain  truths,  all-important  as  that 
may  be,  but  by  having  our  hearts  harmonised  in  Him, 
and  our  spirits  put  into  sympathy  and  communion 
with  Him.  '  They  know  Me,'  and  rest  comes  with  the 
knowledge ; '  they  know  Me,'  and  in  that  knowing  is  the 
best  answer  to  all  doubt  and  fear.      They  are  exposed 


vs.  14, 15]     THE  GOOD  SHEPHERD  89 

to  danger,  but  in  the  fold  they  can  go  quietly  to  rest, 
for  they  know  that  He  is  at  the  door  watching  through 
all  dangers. 

III.  Turn  for  a  moment  to  the  last  point,  '  I  lay  down 
My  life  for  the  sheep.'  I  have  said  that  our  Western 
ways  fail  to  bring  out  fully  the  element  of  the  m9taphor 
which  refers  to  the  kind  of  sympathy  between  the 
shepherd  and  the  sheep;  and  our  Western  life  also 
fails  to  bring  out  this  other  element  also.  Shepherds 
in  England  never  have  need  to  lay  down  their  life  for 
the  sheep.  Shepherds  in  Palestine  often  did,  and  some- 
times do.  You  remember  David  with  the  lion  and 
the  bear,  which  is  but  an  illustration  of  the  reality 
which  underlies  this  metaphor.  So,  then,  in  some 
profound  way,  the  shepherd's  death  is  the  sheep's 
safety.  First  of  all,  look  at  that  most  unmistakable, 
emphatic — I  was  going  to  say  vehement,  at  any  rate, 
intense — expression  of  the  absolute  voluntariness  of 
Christ's  death,  '  I  lay  down  My  life,'  as  a  man  might 
strip  off  a  vesture.  And  this  application  of  the 
metaphor  is  made  all  the  stronger  by  the  words 
which  follow :  '  Therefore  doth  My  Father  love  Me, 
because  I  lay  down  My  life  that  I  might  take  it  again. 
No  man  taketh  it  from  Me,  but  I  lay  it  down  of  Myself. 
I  have  power  to  lay  it  down,  and  I  have  power  to  take 
it  again.'  We  read,  'Smite  the  shepherd,  and  the 
sheep  shall  be  scattered,'  but  here,  somehow  or  other, 
the  smiting  of  the  Shepherd  is  not  the  scattering  but 
the  gathering  of  the  flock.  Here,  somehow  or  other,  the 
dead  Shepherd  has  power  to  guard,  to  guide,  to  defend 
them.  Here,  somehow  or  other,  the  death  of  the 
Shepherd  is  the  security  of  the  sheep;  and  I  say  to 
you,  the  flock,  that  for  every  soul  the  entrance  into 
the  flock  of  God  is  through  the  door  of  the  dying 


40  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.  x. 

Christ,   who  laid   down  His  life  for   the  sheep,  and 
makes  them  His  sheep  who  trust  in  Him. 


•OTHER  SHEEP'* 

'  other  sheep  I  have,  which  are  not  of  this  fold :  them  also  I  must  bring, 
and  they  shall  hear  My  voice ;  and  they  shall  become  one  flock  and  one  Shepherd.' 
—John  x.  16  (R.V.). 

There  were  many  strange  and  bitter  lessons  in  this 
discourse  for  the  false  shepherds,  the  Pharisees,  to  whom 
it  was  first  spoken.  But  there  was  not  one  which 
would  jar  more  upon  their  minds,  and  as  they  fancied, 
on  their  sacredest  convictions,  than  this,  that  God's 
flock  was  wider  than  God's  fold.  Our  Lord  distinctly 
recognises  Judaism  with  its  middle  wall  of  partition 
as  a  divine  institution,  and  then  as  distinctly  carries 
His  gaze  beyond  it.  To  His  hearers  'this  fold,'  their 
own  national  polity,  held  all  the  flock.  Without  were 
dogs,  a  doleful  land,  where  'the  wild  beasts  of  the 
desert  met  with  the  wild  beasts  of  the  islands.'  And 
now  this  new  Teacher,  not  content  with  declaring  them 
hirelings,  and  Himself  the  only  true  Shepherd  of  Israel, 
breaks  down  the  hedges  and  speaks  of  Himself  as  the 
Shepherd  of  men.  No  wonder  that  they  said, '  He  hath 
a  devil  and  is  mad.' 

During  His  earthly  life  our  Lord,  as  we  know,  con- 
fined His  own  personal  ministry  for  the  most  part  to 
the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel.  Not  exclusively 
so,  for  He  made  at  least  one  journey  into  the  coasts  of 
Tyre  and  Sidon,  teaching  and  healing;  a  Syro-Phoenician 
woman  held  His  feet,  and  received  her  request;  and 
one  of  His  miracles,  of  feeding  the  multitude,  was 
wrought  for  hungry  Gentiles.     But  while  His  work 

1  Preached  before  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society. 


V.  16]  '  OTHER  SHEEP '  41 

was  in  Israel,  it  was  for  mankind;  and  while  'this 
fold,'  generally  speaking,  circumscribed  His  toils,  it 
did  not  confine  His  love  nor  His  thoughts.  More  than 
once  world-wide  declarations  and  promises  broke  from 
His  lips,  even  before  the  final  universal  commission, 
'  Preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature.'  *  I,  if  I  be  lifted 
up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  Me.'  'I  am  the  Light  of 
the  world.'  These  and  other  similar  sayings  give  us 
His  lofty  consciousness  that  He  has  received  'the 
heathen  for  His  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earth  for  His  possession.'  Parallel  with  them 
in  substance  are  the  words  before  us,  which,  for  our 
present  purpose,  we  may  regard  as  containing  lessons 
from  our  Lord  Himself  of  how  He  looked  and  would 
have  us  look  on  the  heathen  world,  on  His  work  and 
ours,  and  on  the  certain  issues  of  both. 

I.  We  have  here  Christ  teaching  us  how  to  think  of 
the  heathen  world. 

Observe  that  His  words  are  not  a  declaration  that 
all  mankind  are  His  sheep.  The  previous  verses 
have  distinctly  defined  a  class  of  men  as  possessing 
the  name,  and  the  succeeding  ones  reiterate  the  de- 
finition, and  with  equal  distinctness  exclude  another 
class.  'Ye  believe  not,  because  ye  are  not  My  sheep 
as  I  said  unto  you.'  His  sheep  are  they  who  know 
Him  and  are  known  of  Him.  Between  Him  and  them 
there  is  a  communion  of  love,  a  union  of  life,  and 
a  consequent  reciprocal  knowledge,  which  transcends 
the  closest  intimacies  of  earthly  life,  and  finds  its  only 
analogue  in  that  deep  and  mysterious  oneness  which 
subsists  between  the  Father,  who  alone  knoweth  the 
Son,  and  the  only  begotten  Son,  who  being  ever  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Father,  alone  knoweth  Him  and  revealeth 
Him  to  us.    '  I  know  My  sheep  and  am  known  of  Mine ; 


42  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.  x. 

as  the  Father  knoweth  Me  and  I  know  the  Father. 
They  hear  My  voice  and  follow  Me,  and  I  give  unto 
them  eternal  life.'  Such  are  the  characteristics  of 
that  relation  between  Christ  and  men  by  which  they 
become  His  sheep.  It  is  such  souls  as  these  whom  our 
Lord  beholds  in  the  wasteful  wilderness.  He  is  speak- 
ing not  of  a  relation  which  all  men  bear  to  Him  by 
virtue  of  their  creation,  but  of  one  which  they  bear  to 
Him  who  believe  in  His  name. 

Now  this  interpretation  of  the  words  does  by  no 
means  contradict,  but  rather  presupposes  and  rests 
upon  the  truth  that  all  mankind  come  within  the 
love  of  the  divine  heart,  that  He  died  for  all,  that 
all  may  be  the  subjects  of  His  mediatorial  kingdom,  re- 
cipients of  the  offered  mercy  of  God  in  Christ,  and  com- 
mitted to  the  stewardship  of  the  missionary  Church. 
Resting  upon  these  truths,  the  words  of  our  text 
advance  a  step  further  and  contemplate  those  who 
'  shall  hereafter  believe  on  Me.'  Whether  they  be  few 
or  many  is  not  the  matter  in  hand.  Whether  at  any 
future  time  they  shall  include  all  the  dwellers  upon 
earth  is  not  the  matter  in  hand.  That  every  soul  of 
man  is  included  in  the  adaptation  and  intention  and 
offer  of  the  Gospel  is  not  the  matter  in  hand.  But 
this  is  the  matter  in  hand,  that  Jesus  Christ  in  that 
moment  of  lofty  elevation  when  He  looked  onwards 
to  giving  His  life  for  the  sheep,  looked  outwards  also, 
far  afield,  and  saw  in  every  nation  and  people  souls 
that  He  knew  were  His,  and  would  one  day  know 
Him,  and  be  led  by  Him  'in  green  pastures  and 
beside  still  waters.' 

But  where  or  what  were  they  when  He  spoke  ?  He 
does  not  mean  that  already  they  had  heard  His  voice 
and  were  following  His  steps,  and  knew  His  love,  and 


V.16]  'OTHER  SHEEP'  43 

had  received  eternal  life  at  His  hand.  This  He  cannot 
mean,  for  the  plain  reason  that  He  goes  on  to  speak 
of  His  'bringing'  them  and  of  their  'hearing,' a  work 
yet  to  be  done.  It  can  only  be,  then,  that  He  speaks 
of  them  thus  in  the  fullness  of  that  divine  knowledge 
which  '  calls  things  that  are  not  as  though  they  were.' 
It  is  then  a  prophetic  word  which  He  speaks  here. 

We  have  only  to  think  of  the  condition  of  the  civi- 
lised heathendom  of  Christ's  own  day  in  order  to  feel 
the  force  of  our  text  in  its  primary  application.  While 
the  work  of  salvation  was  being  prepared  for  the  world 
in  the  life  and  death  of  our  Lord,  the  world  was  being 
prepared  for  the  tidings  of  salvation.  Everywhere 
men  were  losing  their  faith  in  their  idols,  and  longing 
for  some  deliverer.  Some  had  become  weary  of  the 
hollowness  of  philosophical  speculation,  and,  like  Pilate, 
were  asking  '  What  is  truth  ? '  whilst,  unlike  Him,  they 
waited  for  an  answer,  and  will  believe  it  when  it  comes 
from  the  lips  of  the  Incarnate  wisdom.  Such  were  the 
Magi  who  were  led  by  their  starry  science  to  His  cradle, 
and  went  back  to  the  depths  of  the  Eastern  lands  with 
a  better  light  than  had  guided  them  thither.  Such 
were  not  a  few  of  the  early  Christian  converts,  who 
had  long  been  seeking  hopelessly  for  goodly  pearls, 
and  had  so  been  learning  to  know  the  worth  of  the 
One  when  it  was  offered  to  them.  There  were  men 
who  had  been  long  sickening  with  despair  amidst  the 
rottenness  of  decaying  mythologies  and  corrupting 
morals,  and  longing  for  some  breath  from  heaven  to 
blow  health  to  themselves  and  to  the  world,  and  had 
so  been  learning  to  welcome  *  the  rushing  mighty  wind ' 
when  it  came  in  power.  There  were  simple  souls, 
without  as  well  as  within  the  chosen  people,  waiting 
for  the  Consolation,  though  they  knew  not  whence  it 


44  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.x. 

was  to  come.  There  were  many  who  had  already 
learned  to  believe  that  *  salvation  is  of  the  Jews,'  though 
they  had  still  to  learn  that  salvation  is  in  Jesus.  Such 
were  that  Ethiopian  statesman  who  was  poring  over 
Isaiah  when  Philip  joined  him,  the  Roman  centurion 
at  Caesarea  whose  prayers  and  alms  came  up  with 
acceptance  before  God,  these  Greeks  of  the  West  who 
came  to  His  cross  as  the  Eastern  sages  to  His  cradle, 
and  were  in  Christ's  eyes  the  advance  guard  and  first 
scattered  harbingers  of  the  flocks  who  should  come 
flying  for  refuge  to  Him  lifted  on  the  Cross, '  like  doves 
to  their  windows.'  The  whole  world  showed  that  the 
fullness  of  tim.e  had  come ;  and  the  history  of  the  early 
years  of  the  Church  reveals  in  how  many  souls  the 
process  of  preparation  had  been  silently  going  on.  It 
was  like  the  flush  of  early  spring,  when  all  the  buds 
that  had  been  maturing  and  swelling  in  the  cold, 
burst,  and  the  tender  flowers  that  had  been  reaching 
upwards  to  the  surface  in  all  the  hard  winter  laugh 
out  in  beauty,  and  a  green  veil  covers  all  the  hedges 
at  the  first  flash  of  the  April  sun. 

Not  only  these  were  in  our  Lord's  thoughts  when  He 
saw  His  sheep  in  heathen  lands.  There  were  many 
who  had  no  such  previous  preparation,  but  were 
plunged  in  all  the  darkness,  nor  knew  that  it  was 
dark.  Not  only  those  wearied  of  idolatry,  and  dis- 
satisfied with  creeds  outworn,  but  the  barbarous  people 
of  Illyricum,  the  profligates  of  Corinth,  hard  rude  men 
like  the  jailer  at  Philippi,  and  many  more  were  before 
His  penetrating  eye.  He  who  sees  beneath  the  surface, 
and  beyond  the  present,  beholds  His  sheep  where  men 
can  only  see  wolves.  He  sees  an  Apostle  in  the 
blaspheming  Saul,  a  teacher  for  all  generations  in 
the  African  Augustine  while  yet  a  sensualist  and  a 


V.16]  'OTHER  SHEEP*  45 

Manichee,  a  reformer  in  the  eager  monk  Luther,  a 
poet-evangelist  in  the  tinker  Bunyan.  He  sees  the 
future  saint  in  the  present  sinner,  the  angel's  wings 
budding  on  many  a  shoulder  where  the  world's  burdens 
lie  heavy,  and  the  new  name  written  on  many  a  fore- 
head that  as  yet  bears  but  the  mark  of  the  beast,  and 
the  number  of  His  name. 

And  the  sheep  whom  He  sees  while  He  speaks  are 
not  only  the  men  of  that  generation.  These  mighty 
words  are  world-wide  and  world-lasting.  The  whole 
of  the  a^ges  are  in  His  mind.  All  nations  are  gathered 
before  His  prophetic  vision,  even  as  they  shall  one  day 
be  gathered  before  His  judgment  throne,  and  in  all 
the  countless  mass  His  hand  touches  and  His  love 
clasps  those  who  to  the  very  end  of  time  shall  come 
to  His  call  with  loving  faith,  shall  follow  His  steps 
with  glad  obedience. 

Thus  does  Christ  look  out  upon  the  world  that  lay 
beyond  the  fold.  I  cannot  stay  to  do  more  than  refer 
in  passing  to  the  spirit  which  the  words  of  our  text 
breathe.  There  is  the  lofty  consciousness  that  He  is  the 
Leader  and  Guide,  the  Friend  and  Helper  of  all,  that 
He  stands  solitary  in  His  power  to  bless.  There  is  the 
full  confidence  that  the  earth  is  His  to  its  uttermost 
border.  There  is  the  clear  vision  of  the  sorrowful  con- 
dition of  these  heathen  people,  without  a  shepherd  and 
without  a  fold,  wandering  on  every  high  mountain 
and  dying  in  every  thirsty  land  where  there  is  no 
water.  There  are  the  tenderest  pity  and  yearning  love 
for  them  in  their  extremity.  There  is  the  clear  assur- 
ance that  they  will  come  and  be  blessed  in  Him.  I  pass 
by  all  the  other  thoughts,  which  naturally  found  them- 
selves on  these  words,  in  order  to  urge  the  one  which 
is  most  appropriate  to  our  present  engagement.    Let 


46  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.  x. 

us,  dear  brethren,  take  Christ  as  our  pattern  in  our 
contemplations  of  the  heathen  world. 

He  has  set  us  the  example  of  an  outgoing  look 
directed  far  beyond  the  limits  of  the  existing  churches, 
far  beyond  the  point  of  present  achievement.  We  are 
but  too  apt  to  circumscribe  our  operative  thoughts 
and  our  warm  sympathies  within  the  circle  of  our 
sight,  or  of  our  own  personal  associations.  Our  selfish- 
ness and  our  indolence  affect  the  objects  of  our  con- 
templations quite  as  much  as  they  do  the  character  of 
our  work.  They  vitiate  both,  by  making  ourselves  the 
great  object  of  both,  and  by  weakening  the  force  of 
both  in  a  ratio  that  increases  rapidly  with  the  increas- 
ing distance  from  that  favourite  centre.  It  is  but  a 
subtle  form  of  the  same  disease  which  keeps  our 
thoughts  penned  within  the  bounds  of  any  fold,  or 
limited  by  the  progress  already  achieved.  For  us  the 
whole  world  is  the  possession  of  our  Lord,  who  has  died 
to  redeem  us.  By  us  the  whole  ought  to  be  contem- 
plated with  that  same  spirit  of  prophetic  confidence 
which  filled  Him  when  He  said,  '  Other  sheep  I  have 
which  are  not  of  this  fold.'  To  press  onwards,  'for- 
getting the  things  that  are  behind,  and  reaching  forth 
to  those  which  are  before,'  is  the  only  fitting  attitude 
for  Christian  men,  either  in  regard  to  the  gradual 
purifying  of  their  own  characters,  or  in  regard  to  the 
gradual  winning  of  the  world  for  Christ.  We  ought 
to  make  all  past  successes  stepping-stones  to  nobler 
things.  The  true  use  of  the  present  is  to  reach  up 
from  it  to  a  loftier  future.  The  distance  beckons ;  well 
for  us  if  it  do  not  beckon  us  in  vain.  We  have  yet  to 
learn  the  first  lesson  of  our  Master's  spirit,  as  ex- 
pressed in  these  words,  if  we  have  not  become  familiar 
with  the  pitying  contemplation  of  the  wastes  beyond 


V.  16]  *  OTHER  SHEEP '  47 

the  fold,  nor  fixed  deep  in  our  minds  the  faith  that 
the  amplitude  of  its  walls  will  have  to  be  widened 
with  growing  years  till  it  fills  the  world.  The  cry 
echoes  to  us  from  of  old,  '  Lengthen  thy  cords,  and 
strengthen  thy  stakes,  for  thou  shalt  break  forth  on 
the  right  hand  and  on  the  left.'  We  take  the  first 
step  to  respond  to  the  summons  when  we  make  the 
'regions  beyond'  one  of  the  standing  subjects  of  our 
devout  thoughts,  and  take  heed  of  supposing  that  the 
Church  as  we  know  it,  has  the  same  measurement 
which  the  man  with  the  golden  rod  has  measured  for 
the  eternal  courts  of  Jerusalem,  that  shall  be  the  joy 
of  the  whole  earth.  The  very  genius  of  the  Gospel  is 
aspiring.  It  is  content  with  nothing  short  of  univer- 
sality for  the  sweep,  and  eternity  for  the  duration,  and 
absolute  completeness  for  the  measure,  of  its  bestow- 
ments  on  man.  We  should  be  like  men  on  a  voyage 
of  discovery,  whose  task  is  felt  to  be  incomplete  until 
headland  after  headland  that  fades  in  the  dim  dis- 
tance has  been  rounded  and  surveyed,  and  the  flag 
of  our  country  planted  upon  it.  After  each  has  been 
passed  another  arises  from  the  water,  onwards  we  must 
go.  There  is  no  pause  for  our  thoughts,  none  for  our 
sympathy,  none  for  our  work,  till  our  keels  have  visited, 
and  the  '  shout  of  a  King '  has  been  heard  on  every  shore 
that  fills  '  the  breadth  of  Thy  land,  O  Emmanuel ! '  The 
limits  of  the  visible  community  of  Christ's  Church 
to-day  are  far  within  the  borders  to  which  it  must 
one  day  stretch.  It  is  for  us,  taught  by  His  words,  to 
understand  that  we  are  yet  as  it  were  but  encamped 
by  Jericho,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  campaign.  Ai 
and  Bethhoron,  and  many  a  fight  more  are  before  us 
yet.  The  camp  of  the  invaders,  when  they  lay  around 
the  city  of  palm-trees,  with  the  mountains  in  front  and 


48  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.  x. 

the  Jordan  behind,  was  not  more  unlike  the  settled 
order  of  the  nation  when  it  filled  the  land,  than  the 
ranks  of  Christ's  army  to-day  are  to  the  mighty  multi- 
tudes that  shall  one  day  name  His  name,  and  follow 
His  banner.  Let  us  live  in  the  future,  and  lay  strongly 
hold  on  the  distant ;  for  both  are  our  Lord's,  and  by  so 
doing  we  shall  the  better  do  our  Master's  work  in  the 
present,  and  at  hand. 

He  has  set  us  the  example  of  a  penetrating  gaze 
into  heathenism,  which  reveals  beneath  its  monotonous 
miseries,  the  souls  that  are  His.  We  ought  to  look  on 
every  field  of  Christian  effort  with  the  assurance  that 
in  it  there  are  some  who  will  hear  His  voice.  As  it 
was  when  He  came,  so  it  is  ever  and  everywhere.  The 
world  is  being  prepared  for  the  Gospel.  In  some  broad 
regions,  faith  in  idolatry  is  dying  out,  and  the  moral 
condition  of  the  people  is  undergoing  a  slow  elevation. 
Individuals  are  being  weaned  from  their  gods,  they 
know  not  how,  and  they  will  not  know  why  till  they 
hear  of  Christ.  He  sees  in  every  land  where  the  Gospel 
is  being  taken — '  a  people  prepared  for  the  Lord.'  He 
sees  the  gold  gleaming  in  the  crevices  of  the  caves,  the 
gems,  rough  and  unpolished,  lying  in  the  matrix.  He 
looks  not  merely  on  the  great  mass  of  idolaters,  but 
He  sees  the  single  souls  who  shall  hear.  It  is  for  us 
to  look  on  the  same  mass  with  confidence  caught  from 
His.  Neither  apathetic  indifference  nor  faint-hearted 
doubt  should  be  permitted  to  weaken  our  hands.  The 
prospect  may  seem  very  dark,  the  power  of  the  enemy 
very  great,  our  resources  very  inadequate ;  but  let  us 
look  with  Christ's  eye,  we  shall  know  that  everywhere 
we  may  hope  to  find  a  response  to  our  message.  Who 
they  may  be,  we  know  not.  How  many  they  may  be, 
we  know  not.    How  they  may  be  guided  by  Him,  they 


V.  16]  *  OTHER  SHEEP '  49 

know  not.  But  He  knows  all.  We  may  know  that 
they  are  there.  And  as  we  cannot  tell  who  they  are 
but  only  that  they  are,  we  are  bound  to  cherish  hopes 
for  all — the  most  degraded  and  outcast  of  our  race.  We 
have  no  right  to  give  up  any  field  or  any  man  as  hope- 
less. Christ's  sheep  will  be  found  coming  out  of  the 
midst  of  wolves  and  goats.  Darkness  may  cover  the 
earth,  and  gross  darkness  the  people;  but  if  we  look 
upon  it  as  Christ  did,  and  as  He  would  have  us  to  look, 
we  shall  see  lights  flickering  here  and  there  in  the 
obscurity,  which  shall  burst  out  into  a  blaze.  The 
prophetic  eye,  the  boundlessly  hopeful  heart,  the  strong 
confidence  that  in  every  land  where  He  is  preached 
there  will  be  those  who  shall  hear — these  are  what  He 
gives  us  when  He  says,  '  Other  sheep  I  have,  which  are 
not  of  this  fold.' 

There  is  one  other  thought  connected  with  these 
words  which  may  be  briefly  referred  to.  It  is  that  even 
now,  in  all  lands  where  the  Gospel  has  been  preached, 
there  are  those  whom  Christ  has  received,  although 
they  have  no  connection  with  His  visible  Church. 

There  are  many  goats  within  the  fold.  There  are 
many  sheep  without  it.  Even  in  lands  where  the 
Gospel  has  long  been  preached,  we  do  not  venture 
to  identify  profession  by  Church  fellowship  with 
living  union  with  Christ.  Much  more  is  this  true  of 
our  missionary  efforts,  and  the  apparent  converts 
whom  they  make.  The  results  that  appear  are  no 
measure  of  the  results  that  have  actually  been  accom- 
plished. We  often  hear  of  men  who  had  caught  up 
some  stray  word  in  a  Bengali  market-place,  or  received 
a  tract  by  the  roadside  from  some  passing  missionary, 
and  who,  having  carried  a^vay  the  seed  in  their  hearts, 
had  long  been  living  as  Christians  remote  from  all 

VOL.  II.  D 


50  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.x. 

churches  and  unknown  by  any.  We  can  easily  con- 
ceive that  timidity  in  some  cases,  and  distance  in 
others,  swell  the  ranks  of  these  secret  disciples. 
Though  they  follow  not  the  footsteps  of  the  flock, 
the  Shepherd  will  lead  them  in  their  solitude.  There 
will  be  many  more  names  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life, 
depend  upon  it,  than  ever  are  written  on  the  roll-calls  of 
our  churches,  or  in  missionary  statistics.  The  shooting- 
stars  that  yearly  fill  our  sky  are  visible  to  us  for  a 
moment,  when  their  orbit  passes  into  the  lighted 
heavens,  and  then  they  disappear  in  the  shadow  of 
the  earth.  But  astronomers  tell  us  that  they  are 
always  there  though  to  us  they  seem  to  blaze  but 
for  a  moment.  We  cannot  see  them,  but  they  move 
on  their  darkling  path  and  have  a  sun  round  which 
they  circle.  So  be  sure  that  in  many  heathen  lands 
there  are  believing  souls,  seen  by  us  but  for  an  instant 
and  then  lost,  who  yet  fill  their  unseen  place,  and  move 
obedient  round  the  Sun  of  Righteousness.  Their  names 
on  earth  are  dark,  but  when  the  manifestation  of  the 
sons  of  God  shall  come,  they  shall  shine  as  the  bright- 
ness of  the  firmament,  and  as  the  stars  for  ever  and 
ever.  Our  work  has  results  beyond  our  knowledge 
now.  When  the  Church,  the  Lamb's  wife,  shall  lift 
up  her  eyes  at  the  end  of  the  days,  prophecy  tells  us 
that  she  shall  wonder  to  see  her  thronging  children, 
whom  she  had  never  known  till  then,  and  will  say, 
'Who  hath  begotten  me  these?  Behold  I  was  left 
alone.  These,  where  had  they  been?'  These  were 
God's  hidden  ones,  nourished  and  brought  up  beyond 
the  pale  of  the  outward  Church,  but  brought  at  last 
to  share  her  triumph,  and  to  abide  at  her  side.  '  Other 
sheep  I  have,  which  are  not  of  this  fold.' 
What  confidence  then,  what  tender  pity,  what  hope 


V.  16]  '  OTHER  SHEEP '  51 

should  fill  our  minds  when  we  look  on  the  heathen 
world!  We  must  never  be  contented  with  present 
achievements.  We  are  committed  to  a  task  which 
cannot  end  till  all  the  world  hears  the  joyful  sound 
and  is  blessed  by  walking  in  the  light  of  His  counten- 
ance. When  the  great  Roman  Catholic  missionary, 
the  Apostle  of  the  East,  was  lying  on  his  dying  bed 
among  the  barbarous  people  whom  he  loved,  his  pass- 
ing spirit  was  busy  about  his  work,  and,  even  in  the 
article  of  death,  while  the  glazing  eye  saw  no  more 
clearly  and  the  ashen  lips  had  begun  to  stiffen  into 
eternal  silence,  visions  of  further  conquests  flashed 
before  him,  and  his  last  word  was  '  Amplius' — Omcard! 
It  ought  to  be  the  motto  of  the  missionary  work  of  us, 
who  boast  a  purer  faith,  to  carry  to  the  heathen  and  to 
fire  our  own  souls.  If  ever  we  are  tempted  to  repose, 
to  despondency,  to  rest  and  be  thankful  when  we  num- 
ber up  our  work  and  our  converts,  let  us  listen  to  His 
voice  as  it  speaks  in  that  supreme  hour  when  He  beheld 
the  vision  of  the  Cross,  and  beyond  it  that  of  a  gathered 
world  :  '  Other  sheep  I  have,  which  are  not  of  this  fold.' 

We  have  here — 

II.  Christ  teaching  us  how  to  think  of  His  work 
and  ours. 

'  Them  also  I  must  bring.'  A  necessity  is  laid  upon 
Him,  which  springs  at  once  from  that  divine  work 
which  is  the  law  of  His  life,  and  from  His  own 
love  and  pity.  The  means  for  accomplishing  this 
necessary  work  are  implied  in  the  context,  as  in 
other  parallel  Scriptural  sayings,  to  be  His  pro- 
pitiatory death.  The  instrumentality  employed  is  not 
only  His  own  personal  agency  on  earth,  nor  only  His 
throned  rule  on  the  right  hand  of  God  with  power 
over  the  Spirit  of  holiness,  but  also  the  work  of  His 


52  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.  x. 

Church,  and  His  work  through  them.  Of  that  He  is 
mainly  speaking  when  He  says,  'Them  also  I  must 
bring.'  Here,  then,  are  some  truths  which  ought  to 
underlie  and  shape  as  well  as  animate  our  efforts  for 
heathenism. 

And  first,  remember  that  the  same  sovereign  neces- 
sity which  was  laid  on  Him  presses  on  us. 

The  '  Spirit  of  life '  which  was  in  Christ  had  its  '  law,' 
which  was  the  will  of  God.  That  shaped  all  His  being, 
and  He  set  us  the  example  of  perfectly  clear  recogni- 
tion of,  and  perfect  obedience  to  it,  from  the  first 
moment  when  He  said, '  I  must  be  about  My  Father's 
business,'  to  the  last,  when  He  sighed  forth,  'Father, 
into  Thy  hands  I  commit  My  spirit.'  Hence  the 
frequent  sayings  setting  forth  His  work  as  determined 
by  an  imperative  '  must,'  which,  whether  it  be  alleged 
in  reference  to  some  apparently  small  or  to  some 
manifestly  great  thing  in  His  life,  is  always  equally 
imperative,  and  whether  it  seem  to  be  based  on  the 
need  for  the  fulfilment  of  some  prophetic  word,  or  on 
the  proprieties  and  congruities  of  sonship,  reposes  at 
last  on  the  will  of  God.  His  final  words  on  the  Pass- 
over night,  before  he  went  out  to  Gethsemane  in  the 
moonlight,  contain  the  influence  which  moulded  His 
whole  earthly  life,  '  As  the  Father  gave  Me  command- 
ment, even  so  I  do.' 

And  this  divine  will  constitutes  for  Him  the  deepest 
ground  of  the  necessity  in  the  case  before  us.  The 
eternal  counsels  of  God  had  willed  that  '  all  the  ends 
of  the  earth  should  see  the  salvation  of  the  Lord ' ; 
therefore,  whatever  the  toils  and  the  pains,  the  loss 
and  the  death,  He,  whose  meat  and  drink  was  to  do 
the  will  of  Him  that  sent  Him,  must  give  Himself  to 
the  task,  nor  rest  till,  one  by  one,  the  weary  wanderers 


V.  16]  *  OTHER  SHEEP  *  58 

are  brought  back  on  His  shoulders  and  folded  in  His 
love. 

In  all  which,  let  us  remember,  Jesus  Christ  is  our 
pattern,  not  in  His  work  for  the  salvation  of  men, 
but  in  the  spirit  in  which  He  did  His  work.  The 
solemn  law  of  duty  before  which  He  bowed  His  head 
is  a  law  for  us  also.  The  authoritative  imperative 
which  He  obeyed  has  power  over  us.  If  we  would 
have  our  lives  holy  and  strong,  wise  and  good,  we 
must  have  '  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus, 
making  us  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death,'  for  the 
obedience  to  the  higher  law  enfranchises  from  slavery 
to  the  lower,  and  all  other  authority  ceases  over  us 
when  we  are  Christ's  men.  We  are  bound  to  service 
directed  to  the  same  end  as  His — even  the  salvation 
of  the  world.  The  same  voice  which  says  to  Him,  'I 
will  give  Thee  for  a  light  to  the  Gentiles,'  says  to  us, 
*Ye  are  My  witnesses,  and  My  servant  whom  I  have 
chosen.'  The  same  Will  which  hath  constituted  Him 
the  anointed  Prophet,  says  of  us,  'Touch  not  Mine 
anointed  and  do  My  prophets  no  harm.'  We  are 
redeemed  that  we  may  show  forth  God's  praises.  Not 
for  ourselves  alone,  nor  for  purposes  terminating  in 
our  own  personal  acceptance  with  God,  or  the  perfect- 
ing of  our  own  characters,  priceless  as  these  are,  but  for 
ends  which  affect  the  world  has  God  had  mercy  on  us. 
We  are  bought  with  a  price  that  we  may  be  the  servants 
of  God.  We  have  received  that  we  may  give  forth, 
'  God  doth  with  us,  as  we  with  torches  do, 
Not  light  them  for  themselves.' 

•  Arise,  shine,  for  thy  light  is  come.' 

This  missionary  work  of  ours,  then,  is  not  one  that 
can  be  taken  up  and  laid  down  at  our  own  pleasure. 
It  is  no  excrescence,  or  accidental  outgrowth  of  the 


54  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.x. 

Church's  life.  We  are  all  too  apt  to  think  of  it  as  an 
extra,  a  kind  of  work  of  supererogation,  which  those 
may  engage  in  who  have  a  liking  that  way,  and 
which  those  who  do  not  care  about  it  may  leave  alone, 
and  no  harm  done.  When  shall  we  come  to  feel 
deeply,  constantly,  practically,  that  it  must  be  done, 
and  that  we  are  sinning  when  we  neglect  it?  Dear 
brethren,  have  we  laid  on  our  hearts  and  consciences 
the  solemn  weight  of  that  necessity  which  moulded 
His  life?  Have  we  felt  the  awful  power  of  God's 
plainly  spoken  will,  driving  us  to  this  task?  Do  we 
know  anything  of  that  spirit  which  hears  ever-pealing 
in  our  ears  that  awful  commandment,  '  Go,  go  to  all 
the  world,  preach,  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  crea- 
ture?' God  commands  us  to  take  the  trumpet,  and 
if  we  would  not  soil  our  souls  with  gross  and  palpable 
sin,  we  must  set  it  to  our  lips  and  sound  an  alarm,  that 
by  His  grace  shall  wake  the  sleepers,  and  make  the 
hoary  walls  of  the  robber-city  that  has  afflicted  the 
earth  for  so  many  weary  millenniums,  rock  to  their 
fall,  that  the  redeemed  of  the  Lord  may  pass  over  and 
set  the  captives  free. 

If  we  felt  this  as  we  ought,  surely  our  consecration 
would  be  more  complete,  and  our  service  more  worthy. 
A  clear  conviction  of  God's  will  pointing  the  path  for 
us,  is,  in  all  things,  a  wondrous  help  to  vigorous  action, 
to  calmness  of  heart,  and  thus  to  success.  In  this 
mighty  work,  it  w^ould  brace  us  for  larger  efforts,  and 
fit  us  for  larger  results.  It  would  simplify  and  deepen 
our  motives,  and  thus  evolve  from  them  nobler  deeds 
and  purer  sacrifices.  To  all  objections  from  so-called 
prudence,  to  all  calculations  from  sparse  results,  to  all 
cavils  of  onlookers  who  may  carp  and  seek  to  hinder, 
we  should  have  one  all-sufficient  answer.    It  is  not  for 


V.  16]  'OTHER  SHEEP*  55 

us  to  bandy  arguments  on  such  points  as  these.  We 
care  nothing  for  difficulties,  for  discouragements,  for 
cost.  We  may  think  about  these  till  we  lose  all  the 
manly  chivalry  of  Christian  character,  like  the  Apostle 
who  gazed  on  the  white  crests  of  the  angry  breakers 
flashing  in  the  pale  moonlight,  till  he  forgot  who  stood 
on  the  storm,  and  began  to  sink  in  his  great  fear.  A 
nobler  spirit  ought  to  be  ours.  The  toil  is  sore,  the 
sacrifices  many,  and  the  yield  seems  small.  Be  it  so ! 
To  all  such  thoughts  we  have  one  answer — Oh !  that 
we  felt  more  its  solemn  power! — such  is  the  will  of 
God.  We  are  doing  as  we  are  bid,  and  we  mean  to 
go  on.  'Them  also  must  I  bring,'  says  the  Master. 
'Necessity  is  laid  upon  me,  yea,  woe  is  me  if  I  preach 
not  the  Gospel,'  echoes  the  Apostle.  Let  us,  in 
the  consecration  of  resolved  hearts,  and  in  trembling 
obedience  to  the  divine  will,  add  our  choral  Amen,  and 
in  the  face  of  all  the  paralysing  suggestions  of  our 
own  selfishness,  and  all  the  tempting  voices  of  worldly 
wisdom  and  unbelieving  scornfulness  that  would  stay 
our  enterprise,  let  us  fling  back  the  grand  old  answer, 
'Whether  it  be  right  in  the  sight  of  God  to  hearken 
unto  you  more  than  unto  God,  judge  ye,  for  we  cannot 
but  speak  the  things  which  we  have  seen  and  heard.' 

We  must  not  forget,  how^ever,  that  it  was  no  ab- 
horrent toil  to  which  Christ  reluctantly  consented. 
But  in  this  case,  as  always  with  Him,  the  words  of 
prophecy  were  true.  'I  delight  to  do  Thy  will.'  The 
schism  between  law  and  choice  had  no  existence  for 
Him;  and  when  He  says  that  He  must  bring  the 
wandering  sheep  into  the  fold.  He  means  not  more 
because  of  God's  will  than  because  of  His  own  yearn- 
ing desire  to  pour  out  the  treasures  of  His  mercy. 

So  it  ought  to  be  with  us.     Our  missionary   work 


56  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.  x. 

should  not  be  degraded  beneath  the  level  of  duty 
indeed,  but  neither  should  it  be  left  on  that  level. 
We  ought  not  only  to  be  led  to  it  by  a  power  without, 
but  impelled  by  an  energy  within.  If  we  would  be  like 
our  Master,  we  must  know  the  necessity  arising  from 
our  own  heart's  promptings,  which  leads  us  to  work 
for  Him.  He  has  very  imperfectly  caught  the  spirit  of 
the  Gospel  who  has  never  felt  the  word  as  a  fire  in  his 
bones,  making  him  weary  of  forbearing.  If  we  only 
take  to  this  work  because  we  are  bid,  and  without 
sympathy  for  men,  and  longing  desire  to  bring  them 
all  to  Him  who  has  blessed  us,  we  may  almost  as  well 
leave  it  alone.  We  shall  do  very  little  good  to  any- 
body, to  ourselves  little,  to  the  world  less.  That  our 
own  hearts  may  teach  us  this  necessity,  we  must  live 
near  our  Master,  and  know  His  grace  for  ourselves. 
In  proportion  as  w^e  do,  we  shall  be  eager  to  proclaim 
it,  and  not  stand  idling  in  a  corner  of  the  market-place, 
till  some  unmistakable  order  sends  us  into  the  vine- 
yard, but  go  for  the  relief  of  our  own  feelings.  '  This 
is  a  day  of  good  tidings,  and  we  cannot  hold  our  peace,' 
said  the  poor  lepers  in  the  camp  to  one  another.  The 
same  feeling  that  we  must  tell  the  good  news  just  be- 
cause we  know  it,  and  it  will  make  our  brethren  glad, 
is  part  of  the  Christian  character.  A  blessed  necessity, 
then,  is  laid  upon  us.  A  blessed  work  is  given  us,  which 
brings  with  it  at  once  the  joy  of  obedience  to  our  Father's 
will,  and  the  joy  of  gratifying  a  deep  instinct  of  our 
nature.  'Them  also  must  I  bring,'  said  the  Saviour, 
because  He  loved  men.  '  To  me  who  am  less  than  the 
least  of  all  saints,  is  this  grace  given,  that  I  should 
preach  among  the  Gentiles  the  unsearchable  riches, 
echoes  the  Apostle.  Let  us  live  in  the  light  of  our 
Lord's  eye,  and  drink  deep  of  His  spirit,  till  the  task 


V.16]  *  OTHER  SHEEP*  57 

becomes  a  grace  and  privilege,  not  a  burden,  and  till 
silence  and  idleness  in  His  cause  shall  be  felt  to  be 
impossible,  because  it  would  be  violence  to  our  own 
feelings,  and  the  loss  of  a  great  joy  as  well  as  sin 
against  our  Father's  will. 

Consider  again,  by  what  means  the  sheep  are  to  be 
brought  to  Christ  ?  The  context  distinctly  answers  the 
question.  There  His  propitiatory  death  is  emphatically 
set  forth  as  the  power  by  which  it  is  to  be  accomplished. 
The  verse  before  our  text  says, '  I  lay  down  My  life  for 
the  sheep ' ;  that  after  our  text  says,  '  Therefore  doth 
My  Father  love  Me,  because  I  lay  down  My  life.'  It 
is  the  same  connection  of  means  and  end  as  appears 
in  the  wonderful  words  with  which  He  received  the 
Greeks  who  came  up  to  the  feast,  and  heard  the  great 
truth,  for  want  of  which  their  philosophy  and  art 
came  to  nothing.  'Except  a  corn  of  wheat  fall  into 
the  ground  and  die  it  abideth  alone ' — '  I,  if  I  be  lifted 
up  from  the  earth  will  draw  all  men  unto  Me.' 

Yes,  brethren!  the  Cross  of  Christ,  and  it  alone, 
gathers  men  into  a  unity ;  for  it  alone  draws  men  to 
Christ.  His  death,  as  our  propitiation,  effects  such  a 
change  in  the  aspects  of  the  divine  government,  and  in 
the  incidence  of  the  divine  justice,  that  '  we  who  were 
far  off  are  made  nigh  by  the  blood  of  Christ.'  His 
death,  as  the  constraining  motive  of  life  in  the  hearts 
which  receive  it,  draws  them  away  from  their  own 
ways  by  the  cords  of  love,  and  binds  them  to  Him. 
His  death  is  His  purchase  of  the  gifts  of  that  divine 
Spirit  for  the  rebellious,  who  now  convinces  the  world 
and  endows  the  Church,  'till  we  all  come  unto  the 
measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fullness  of  Christ.'  The 
First  Begotten  from  the  dead  is  therefore  the  prince  of 
all  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and  He  so  rules  among  the 


58  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.  x. 

nations  as  to  bring  the  world  to  HirAself.  The  philo- 
sophy of  history  lies  in  the  words,  '  Other  sheep  I  have; 
them  also  I  must  bring.' 

Christian  missions  abundantly  prove  that  the  Cross 
and  the  proclamation  of  the  Cross  have  this  power,  and 
that  nothing  else  has.  It  is  not  the  ethics  of  Chris- 
tianity, nor  the  abstract  truths  which  may  be  deduced 
from  its  story,  but  it  is  the  story  of  the  suffering 
Redeemer  that  gives  it  its  power  over  human  hearts, 
in  all  conditions,  and  climates,  and  stages  of  culture. 
The  magnetism  of  the  Cross  alone  is  mighty  enough  to 
overcome  the  gravitation  of  the  soul  to  sin  and  the 
world.  We  hear  much  nowadays  about  a  new  refor- 
mation which  is  to  be  effected  on  Christianity,  by 
purifying  it  of  its  historical  facts  and  of  its  repulsive 
sacrificial  aspect.  When  this  is  done,  and  the  pure 
spiritual  ideas  are  disengaged  from  their  fleshly  garb, 
then,  we  are  told,  will  be  the  apotheosis  and  glorifica- 
tion of  Christ.  This  will  be  the  real  lifting  up  from 
the  earth;  this  will  draw  all  men.  Aye,  and  when 
this  is  done  what  will  be  left?  Christianity  will  be 
purified  back  again  into  a  vague  Deism,  which  one 
would  have  thought  had  proved  itself  toothless  and 
impotent,  centuries  ago.  Spiritualising  will  turn  out 
to  be  very  like  evaporating,  the  residuum  will  be  a 
miserably  unsatisfactory  something,  near  akin  to 
nothing,  and  certainly  incapable  either  of  firing  its 
disciples  with  a  desire  to  spread  their  faith,  if  we  may 
call  it  so  by  courtesy,  or  of  drawing  men  to  itself.  A 
Christianity  without  a  Sacrifice  on  the  altar  will  be  a 
Christianity  without  worshippers  in  the  Temple.  The 
King  of  Kings  who  rides  forth  conquering  is  clothed  in 
a  vesture  dipped  in  blood.  The  Christian  Emperor 
saw  in  the  heavens  the  Cross,  with  the  legend :  '  In 


V.16]  *  OTHER  SHEEP'  59 

this  sign  thou  shalt  conquer!'  It  is  an  emblem  true 
for  all  time.  The  Cross  is  the  power  unto  salvation. 
The  races  scattered  on  the  earth  have  often  sought 
to  make  for  themselves  a  rallying-point,  and  their 
attempts  at  union  have  become  Babels,  centres  of  re- 
pulsion and  confusion.  God  has  given  us  the  Centre, 
the  Tree  of  life  in  the  midst.  The  crucified  Saviour  is 
the  Root  of  Jesse,  which  shall  stand  for  an  ensign  for 
the  people ;  to  it  shall  the  Gentiles  seek,  and  resting 
beneath  the  shadow  of  the  Cross  be  at  peace.  *  I,  if  I 
be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  Me.' 
Once  more  our  Lord  teaches  us  here  to  identify  the 
work  of  the  Church  with  His  own.  What  His  servants 
do  for  Him  He  does,  for  from  Him  they  derive  the 
power  to  do  it,  and  from  Him  comes  the  blessing  which 
makes  it  effectual.  He  works  in  us,  He  works  with  us, 
He  works  for  us.  He  works  in  us.  We  have  the  grace 
of  His  Spirit  to  touch  our  hearts  and  sanctify  us  for 
service.  He  puts  it  into  the  wills  and  desires  of 
His  Church  to  consecrate  themselves  to  the  task.  He 
teaches  them  sympathy  and  self-devotion.  He  breathes 
world-wide  aspirations  into  them.  He  raises  up  men 
to  go  forth.  He  works  \cith  us,  helping  our  weakness, 
enlightening  our  ignorance,  directing  our  steps,  giving 
power  to  the  student  at  his  dry  task  of  grammar  and 
dictionary,  being  mouth  and  wisdom  to  them  that 
speak  in  His  name,  touching  the  hearts  of  them  that 
hear.  In  our  basket  He  puts  the  seed-corn;  the 
furrows  of  the  field  He  makes  soft  with  showers, 
and  when  it  is  sown  He  blesses  the  springing  thereof. 
He  works  for  us,  opening  doors  among  the  nations, 
ordering  the  courses  of  providence,  and  holding  His 
hand  around  His  servants,  so  that  they  are  immortal 
till  their  work  is  done ;  and  can  ever  lift  up  thankful 


60  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.  x. 

voices  to  Him  who  leads  them  joyful  captives  at  His 
own  triumphal  car,  as  it  rolls  on  its  stately  march, 
scattering  the  sweet  odours  of  His  name  wherever 
the  long  procession  sweeps  through  the  world.  We 
neither  go  a  warfare  at  our  own  charges,  nor  in  our 
own  might.  He  will  fight  with  us,  and  He  will  pay  us 
liberally  at  the  last.  When  we  count  up  our  own 
resources,  do  not  we  often  leave  Christ  out  of  the 
reckoning  ?  Do  we  not  measure  our  strength  against 
the  enemies',  and  forget  that  one  weak  man,  plus 
Christ,  is  always  in  the  majority  ?  *  It  is  not  ye  that 
speak,  but  the  Spirit  of  My  Father  which  speaketh  in 
you.'  'I  laboured,  yet  not  I,  but  the  grace  of  God 
which  was  with  me.'  So  helped,  so  inspired,  we  are 
wrong  to  despond ;  we  are  wrong  not  to  expect  great 
things  and  attempt  great  things;  we  are  wrong  not 
to  dare,  we  are  wrong  to  do  the  work  of  the  Lord 
negligently.  Let  us  feel  that  Christ's  work  is  ours, 
and  we  shall  be  bowed  beneath  the  solemnity  of 
the  thought,  shall  accept  joyfully  the  necessity.  Let 
us  feel  that  our  work  is  Christ's,  and  we  shall  rejoice 
in  infirmity  that  His  power  may  rest  upon  us,  shall 
bid  adieu  to  faint-hearted  fears,  and  be  sure  that  then 
it  must  prosper.  'Arise,  O  Lord!  plead  Thine  own 
cause.'  Not  unto  us,  O  Lord !  not  unto  us,  but  to  Thy 
name  give  glory. 

'  The  Lord  ascended  into  Heaven  and  sat  on  the  right 
hand  of  God,  and  they  went  everywhere  preaching 
the  word.'  It  seems  a  strange  contrast  between  the 
rest  of  the  Lord,  sitting  in  sublime  expectancy  of 
conscious  power  till  His  enemies  become  His  foot- 
stool, and  the  toils  of  His  scattered  disciples.  It  is 
like  that  moment  which  the  genius  of  the  great  painter 
has  caught  in  an  immortal  work,  when  Jesus  in  rapt 


V.16]  'OTHER  SHEEP'  61 

communion  with  the  mighty  dead,  and  crowned  with 
the  accepting  word  from  Heaven,  floated  transfigured 
above  the  Holy  Mount,  while  below  His  disciples 
wrestled  impotently  with  the  demon  that  would  not 
be  cast  out.  But  it  is  not  really  contrast.  He  has  not 
so  parted  the  toils  as  that  His  are  over  ere  ours  begin. 
He  has  not  left  His  Church  militant  to  bear  the  brunt 
of  the  battle  while  the  Captain  of  the  Lord's  host  only 
watches  the  current  of  the  heady  fight — like  Moses 
from  the  safe  mountain.  The  Evangelist  goes  on  to 
tell  us  that  the  Lord  also  was  working  with  them  and 
sharing  their  toils,  lightening  their  burdens,  preparing 
for  them  successes  on  earth,  and  a  rest  like  His  when 
He  shall  gird  Himself  and  serve  them.  Thus,  the  first 
time  that  the  heavens  opened  again  to  mortal  eyes 
after  they  closed  on  His  ascending  form,  was  to  show 
Him  to  the  martyr  in  the  council  chamber,  not  sitting 
careless  or  restful,  but  standing  at  the  right  hand  of 
God,  to  intercede  for,  to  strengthen,  to  receive  and 
glorify  His  dying  servant.  He  goes  with  us  where 
we  go,  and  through  our  works  and  gifts  and  prayers, 
through  our  proclamation  of  the  Cross,  He  worketh 
His  will,  and  shall  finally  accomplish  that  great 
necessity  laid  upon  Him  by  the  Father's  counsels,  and 
upon  us  by  His  commandment,  and  to  be  effected 
by  His  death,  that  He  should  die,  not  for  that  nation 
only,  but  also  that  He  should  gather  together  in  one 
the  children  of  Grod  who  are  scattered  abroad. 

We  have  here — 

III.  Our  Lord  teaching  us  how  to  think  of  the  certain 
issues  of  His  work  and  ours. 

'They  shall  hear  My  voice,  and  there  shall  be  one 
fold  and  one  Shepherd.'  We  may  regard  these  words 
as  embracing  two  things ;  a  nearer  issue,  namely,  the 


62  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.  x. 

response  that  will  always  attend  His  call ;  and  a  more 
remote,  namely,  the  completion  of  His  work.  There 
is,  of  course,  a  very  blessed  sense  in  which  the  latter 
words  are  true  now,  and  have  been  ever  since  Paul 
could  say  to  those  who  had  been  aliens  from  the 
commonwealth  of  Israel,  '  He  hath  made  both  one. 
Now,  therefore,  ye  are  no  more  foreigners  but  fellow- 
citizens  with  the  saints.'  But  the  fold  which  now 
exists,  limited  in  numbers,  with  its  members  but 
partially  conscious  of  their  unity,  and  surrounded  by 
those  who  follow  hireling  shepherds,  does  not  exhaust 
these  great  words.  They  shall  not  be  accomplished  till 
that  far-off  future  have  come. 

But  for  the  present  we  have  the  predictions  of  the 
former  clause,  'They  shall  hear  My  voice.'  What 
manner  of  expectations  does  it  teach  us  to  cherish? 
It  seems  to  speak  not  of  universal  reception  of  Christ's 
message,  but  of  some  as  hearing  and  some  as  for- 
bearing. It  teaches  us  to  look  for  divers  results 
attending  our  missionary  work.  There  will  always 
be  a  Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  the  woman  Lydia, 
the  kindly  barbarians,  the  conscience-stricken  jailer. 
There  will  always  be  the  scoffers,  who  mock  when 
they  hear  of  *  Jesus  and  the  resurrection ' ;  the  hesi- 
tating who  compound  with  conscience  by  promising 
to  hear  again  of  this  matter,  the  fierce  opponents 
who  invoke  constituted  authorities  or  mob  violence 
to  crush  the  message. 

Again,  the  words  seem  to  contemplate  a  long  task. 
There  is  nothing  about  the  rate  at  which  His  Kingdom 
shall  spread,  not  a  syllable  to  answer  inquiries  as  to 
when  the  end  shall  come.  The  whole  tone  of  the 
language  suggests  the  idea  that  bringing  back  the 
sheep  is  to  take  a  long  time,  and  to  cost  many  a 


V.16]  'OTHER  SHEEP  63 

tedious  journey  into  the  wilderness.  Not  a  sudden 
outburst,  but  a  slow  kindling  of  the  flame,  is  what  our 
Lord  teaches  us  here  to  expect. 

But  while  thus  calm  in  tone  and  moderate  in  ex- 
pectation, the  words  breathe  a  hope  as  confident  as  it 
is  calm,  as  clear  as  it  is  moderate.  There  will  always 
be  a  response.  His  voice  shall  never  be  lifted  up  in 
the  snow-storm  or  lonely  hillsides  only  to  be  blown 
back  into  His  own  ears,  unheard  and  unheeded.  Be 
they  few  or  many,  they  shall  hear.  Be  the  toil 
longer  or  shorter,  more  or  less  severe,  it  shall  not 
be  in  vain. 

And  to  these  expectations  we  shall  do  wisely  if  we 
attune  ours.  Omit  from  your  hopes  what  your  Lord 
has  omitted  from  His  promises;  do  not  ask  what  He 
has  not  told.  Do  not  wonder  if  you  encounter  what 
He  met,  for  the  disciple  is  not  greater  than  his  Master, 
and  only  if  they  have  kept  My  saying  will  they  keep 
yours  also.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  es;pect  as  much 
as  He  has  prophesied ;  accept  it  when  it  comes  as  the 
fruit  of  His  work,  not  of  yours,  and  build  a  firm  faith 
that  your  labour  shall  not  be  in  vain  on  these  calm 
and  prescient  words. 

So  much  for  the  course  of  the  kingdom.  And  what 
of  the  end?  One  by  one  the  sheep  have  been  brought, 
at  last  they  are  all  gathered  in,  not  a  hoof  left  behind. 
The  stars  steal  singly  into  their  places  in  the 
heavens  as  the  darkness  deepens,  and  He  'bringeth 
them  forth  by  number,'  until  at  the  noon  of  night 
the  sky  is  crowded  with  their  lights,  and  'for  that 
He  is  great  in  power,  not  one  faileth.'  What  ex- 
pectations are  we  here  taught  to  cherish  then  of  the 
final  issue  ? 

Mark,  to  begin  with,  that  there  is  implied  the  uiti- 


64  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.  x. 

mate  universality  of  His  dominion  and  sole  supremacy 
of  His  throne.  There  is  to  be  but  one  Shepherd,  and 
over  all  the  earth  a  great  unity  of  obedience  to  Him. 
Here  is  the  knell  of  all  authority  that  does  not  own 
Him,  and  the  subordination  of  all  that  does.  The 
hirelings,  the  blind  guides,  that  have  misled  and 
afflicted  humanity  for  so  many  weary  ages,  shall  be 
all  sunk  in  oblivion.  The  false  gods  shall  be  dis- 
crowned, and  lie  shattered  on  their  temple-sill,  and 
there  shall  be  no  worshippers  to  care  for  or  to  try 
to  repair  their  discomfiture.  Bow  your  heads  before 
Him,  thinkers  who  have  led  men  on  devious  paths 
and  spoken  but  a  partial  truth  and  a  wisdom  all 
confused  with  foolishness !  Lower  your  swords  before 
Him,  warriors  who  have  builded  your  cities  on  blood 
and  led  men  like  sheep  to  the  slaughter !  He  is  more 
glorious  and  excellent  than  the  mountains  of  prey. 
Cast  your  crowns  before  Him,  princes  and  all  judges 
of  the  earth,  for  He  is  King  by  right  of  the  crown 
of  thorns !  This  is  the  Lord  of  all — Teacher,  Leader, 
Ruler  of  all  men.  All  other  names  shall  be  forgotten 
but  His  shall  abide.  If  they  have  been  shepherds  who 
would  not  come  in  by  the  door,  a  ransomed  world  shall 
rejoice  over  their  fall  with  the  ancient  hymn,  '  Other 
gods  beside  Thee  have  had  dominion  over  us;  they 
are  dead,  they  shall  not  live.  Thou  hast  destroyed 
them,  and  made  all  their  memory  to  perish.'  If  they 
have  been  subject  to  the  chief  Shepherd  and  ensamples 
to  the  flock,  they  will  rejoice  to  decrease  before  His 
increase,  and  having  helped  to  bring  the  Bride  to 
the  Bridegroom,  will  gladly  stand  aside  and  be  for- 
gotten in  the  perfect  love  that  enters  into  full 
fruition  at  the  last.  Then  when  none  contest  nor 
intercept  the  reverential   obedience  that   the   whole 


V.16]  'OTHER  SHEEP'  65 

world  brings  to  Him,  shall  be  fulfilled  the  firm  promise 
which  declared  long  ago:  'I  will  set  up  one  Shep- 
herd over  them,  and  He  will  feed  them  and  be  their 
Shepherd.' 

Mark  again  the  blessed  nature  of  the  relation  be- 
tween Christ  and  all  men  which  is  here  foretold. 
From  of  old,  the  shepherd  has  been  in  all  nations  the 
emblem  of  kingly  power,  of  leadership  of  every  sort. 
How  often  the  fact  has  contradicted  the  symbol  let 
history  tell.  But  with  Jesus  the  reality  does  not  only 
contradict,  but  even  transcends,  the  tender  old  com- 
parison. He  rules  with  a  gentle  sway.  His  sceptre  is 
no  rod  of  iron,  but  the  shepherd's  crook,  and  the 
inmost  meaning  of  its  use  is  that  it  may  '  comfort '  us, 
as  David  learned  to  feel.  There  gather  round  the 
metaphor  all  thoughts  of  merciful  guidance,  of  tender 
care,  of  a  helping  arm  when  we  are  weak,  of  a  loving 
bosom  where  we  are  carried  when  we  are  weary.  It 
speaks  of  a  seeking  love  that  roams  over  every  high  hill 
till  it  finds,  and  of  a  strong  shoulder  that  bears  us  back 
when  He  has  found.  It  tells  of  sweet  hours  of  rest  ir: 
the  hot  noontide  by  still  waters,  of  ample  provision  for 
all  the  soul's  longings  in  green  pastures.  It  speaks  of 
footsteps  that  go  before,  in  which  men  may  follow  and 
find  them  ways  of  pleasantness.  It  speaks  of  gentle 
callings  by  name  which  draw  the  heart.  It  speaks  of 
defence  when  lion  and  bear  come  ravening  down,  and 
of  safe  couching  by  night  when  the  silent  stars  behold 
the  sleeping  sheep  and  the  wakeful  shepherd.  He 
Himself  gives  its  highest  significance  to  the  emblem,  in 
the  words  of  this  great  discourse,  when  He  fixes  on  His 
knowledge.  His  calling  of  His  sheep,  His  going  before 
them.  His  giving  His  life  for  them.  Such  are  the 
gracious  blessings  which  here  He  teaches  us  to  think 
VOL.  II.  E 


GQ  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.x. 

of  as  possessed  in  the  happy  days  that  shall  be,  by  all 
the  world. 

And,  on  the  other  hand,  the  symbol  speaks  of  con- 
fiding love  in  the  hearts  of  men,  of  a  great  peacefulness 
of  meek  obedience  stilling  and  gladdening  their  wills, 
of  the  consciousness  of  His  perfect  love,  and  the  know- 
ledge of  all  His  gracious  character,  of  sweet  answering 
communion  with  Him,  of  safety  from  all  enemies, 
of  freedom,  of  familiar  passage  in  and  out  to  God. 
Thus  knit  together  shall  be  the  one  fold  and  the 
one  Shepherd.  'They  shall  feed  in  the  ways,  and 
their  pastures  shall  be  in  all  high  places.  They  shall 
not  hunger  nor  thirst,  neither  shall  the  heat  nor  sun 
smite  them,  for  He  that  hath  mercy  on  them  shall 
feed  them,  even  by  the  springs  of  water  shall  He 
guide  them.'  \ 

Mark  again  what  a  vision  is  here  given  of  the  rela- 
tions of  men  with  one  another. 

They  are  to  be  all  gathered  into  a  peaceful  unity. 
They  are  to  be  one  because  they  all  hearken  to  one 
voice.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  our  Lord  does  not  say, 
as  our  English  Bible  makes  Him  say,  that  there  is  to  be 
one  fold.  He  drops  that  word  of  set  purpose  in  the 
latter  clause  of  our  text,  and  substitutes  for  it  another, 
which  may  perhaps  be  best  rendered  flock.  Why  this 
change  in  the  expression  ?  Because,  as  it  would  seem, 
he  would  have  us  learn  that  the  unity  of  that  blessed 
future  time  is  not  to  be  like  the  unity  of  the  Jewish 
Church,  a  formal  and  external  one.  That  ancient 
polity  was  a  fold.  It  held  its  members  together  by 
outward  bonds  of  uniformity.  But  the  universal 
Church  of  the  future  is  to  be  a  flock.  It  is  to  be 
really  and  visibly  one.  But  it  is  to  be  so,  not  because 
it  is  hemmed  in  by  one  enclosure,  but  because  it  is  to 


V.16]  *  OTHER  SHEEP'  67 

be  gathered  round  one  Shepherd.  The  more  closely 
they  are  drawn  to  Him,  the  more  near  will  they  be  to 
each  other.  The  centre  in  which  all  the  radii  meet 
keeps  them  all  in  their  places.  '  We  being  many  are  one 
bread,  for  we  are  all  partakers  of  that  one  bread.'  In 
the  ritual  of  the  Old  Covenant,  the  great  golden  candle- 
stick with  its  seven  branches  stood  in  the  court  of  the 
Temple,  emblem  of  the  formal  oneness  of  the  people, 
which  was  meant  to  be  the  light  of  the  Lord  to  a  dark 
world.  In  the  vision  of  the  New  Covenant,  the  seer  in 
Patmos  beheld  not  the  one  lamp  with  its  branches,  but 
the  seven  golden  candlesticks,  which  were  made  into  a 
holier  and  a  freer  unity  because  the  Son  of  Man  walked 
in  their  midst — emblem  of  the  oneness  in  diversity  of  the 
peoples,  who  were  sometimes  darkness,  but  shall  one  day 
be  light  in  the  Lord.  There  may  continue  to  be  national 
distinctions.  There  may  or  there  may  not  be  any  exter- 
nal unity.  But  at  all  events  our  Lord  turns  away  our 
thoughts  from  the  outward  to  the  inward,  and  bids  us 
be  sure  that  though  the  folds  be  many  the  flock  shall 
be  one,  because  they  shall  all  hear  and  follow  Him. 

The  words,  however,  suggest  for  us  the  blessed 
thought  of  the  peaceful  relations  that  shall  then  sub- 
sist among  men.  The  tribes  of  the  earth  shall  couch 
beside  each  other  like  the  quiet  sheep  in  the  fold,  and 
having  learned  of  His  great  meekness,  they  shall  no 
more  bite  nor  devour  one  another.  Alas !  alas !  the 
words  seem  too  good  to  be  true.  They  seem  long,  long 
of  coming  to  pass.  Ever  since  they  were  spoken  the 
old  bloody  work  has  been  going  on,  and  the  old  lusts  of 
the  human  heart  have  been  busy  sowing  the  dragon's 
teeth  that  shall  spring  up  in  wars  and  fightings.  In 
savage  lands  warfare  rages  on,  ceaseless,  ignoble, 
unrecorded,  and  seemingly  purposeless  as  that  of  animal- 


68  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.  x. 

cules  in  a  drop  of  water.  On  civilised  soil,  men,  who 
love  the  same  Christ  and  worship  Him  in  the  same 
tongue,  are  fronting  each  other  at  this  hour.  The  war 
of  actual  swords,  and  the  war  of  conflicting  creeds,  and 
the  jostling  of  human  selfishness  in  the  rough  road  of 
life,  are  all  around  us,  and  their  seeds  are  within  our- 
selves. The  race  of  men  do  not  live  like  folded  sheep, 
rather  like  a  flock  of  wolves,  who  first  run  over  and 
then  devour  their  weaker  fellows. 

But  here  is  a  fairer  hope,  and  it  will  be  fulfilled 
when  all  evil  thoughts,  and  all  selfish  desires,  and 
all  jealous  grudgings  shall  vanish  from  men's  hearts, 
as  unclean  spirits  at  cockcrow,  and  shall  leave  them, 
self-forgetful,  yielding  of  their  own  prerogatives,  de- 
sirous of  no  other  man's,  abhorrent  of  inflicting,  and 
patient  of  receiving  wrong.  There  will  be  no  fuel 
then  to  blow  into  sulphurous  flame,  though  all  the 
blasts  from  hell  were  to  fan  the  embers.  But  peace 
and  concord  shall  be  in  all  men,  for  Christ  shall  be 
in  all.  National  distinctions  may  abide,  but  national 
enmities — the  oldest  and  deepest,  shall  disappear. 
There  shall  still  be  Assyria,  and  Egypt,  and  Israel,  but 
their  former  relation  will  be  replaced  by  a  bond  of 
amity  in  their  common  possession  of  Him  who  is  our 
peace.  'In  that  day  shall  Israel  be  the  third  with 
Egypt,  and  with  Assyria,  even  a  blessing  in  the  midst 
of  the  land,  whom  the  Lord  shall  bless,  saying.  Blessed 
be  Egypt  my  people,  and  Assyria  the  work  of  my  hands, 
and  Israel  mine  inheritance.'  God  be  thanked !  that 
though  we  see,  and  our  fathers  have  seen,  so  much  that 
seems  to  contradict  our  hopes  of  a  peaceful  world,  and 
though  to-day  the  hell-hounds  of  war  are  baying  over 
the  earth,  and  though  nowhere  can  we  see  signs  even 
of  the  approach  of  the  halcyon  time,  yet  we  can  wait 


V.  16]  'OTHER  SHEEP'  69 

for  the  vision,  knowing  that  it  will  come  at  the  appointed 
time,  when 

♦  No  war  or  battle's  sound 
Is  heard  the  world  around, 
The  idle  spear  and  shield  are  high  uphung ; 
The  trumpet  speaks  not  to  the  armed  throng, 
And  Kings  sit  still,  with  awful  eye. 
As  if  they  surely  knew  their  Sovereign  Lord  was  by.' 

Such  are  the  thoughts  which  our  Lord  would  teach  us 
as  to  the  present  and  as  to  the  future  of  our  missionary- 
work.  For  the  one,  moderate  expectations  of  success, 
not  unchequered  by  disappointment,  and  a  brave 
patience  in  long  toil.  For  the  other,  hopes  which  can- 
not be  too  glowing,  and  a  faith  which  cannot  be  too 
obstinate.  The  one  is  being  fulfilled  in  our  own  and 
our  brethren's  experience  even  now ;  we  may  be  there- 
fore all  the  more  sure  that  the  other  will  be  so  in  due 
time.  If  we  look  with  Christ's  eyes,  we  shall  not  be 
depressed  by  the  apparent  unbroken  surface  of  heathen- 
ism but  see,  as  He  did,  everywhere  souls  that  belong  to 
Him,  who  may  and  must  be  won ;  we  shall  joyfully 
embrace  the  work  which  He  has  given  us  to  do;  we 
shall  arm  ourselves  against  the  discouragements  of  the 
present,  by  living  much  in  the  past  at  the  foot  of  the 
Cross,  till  we  catch  the  true  image  of  the  Saviour's 
love,  and  much  in  the  future  in  the  midst  of  the  ran- 
somed flock,  till  we  too  behold  the  roses  blossoming  in 
the  wilderness,  the  bright  waters  covering  all  the  dry 
places  in  the  desert,  and  the  families  of  men  sitting, 
clothed  and  in  their  right  mind,  at  the  feet  of  Jesus. 

Our  missionary  work  is  the  pure  and  inevitable  result 
of  a  belief  in  these  words  of  my  text.  Can  a  man  believe 
that  Christ  has  other  sheep  for  whom  He  died  because 
He  must  bring  them  in,  whom  He  will  bring  in  because 


70  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHX  [ch.x. 

He  died,  and  not  work  according  to  his  power  in  the 
line  of  the  divine  purposes?  The  niissionarj- spirit  is 
but  the  Christian  spu'it  working  in  one  particular 
direction.  Missionary  societies  are  but  one  of  the 
authentic  outcomes  of  Christian  principles,  as  natural 
as  holiness  of  life,  or  the  act  of  prayer. 

io  secure,  then,  a  more  vigorous  energy  in  such  work, 
we  need  chiefly  what  we  need  for  all  Christian  growth 
— namely,  more  and  deeper  communion  with  Christ,  a 
more  vivid  realisation  of  His  grace  and  love  for  our- 
selves. And  then  we  need  that,  under  the  double 
stimulus  of  His  love  and  of  His  commandment — which 
at  bottom  are  one — our  minds  should  be  more  frequently 
occupied  with  this  subject  of  Christian  missions.  Most 
of  us  know  too  little  about  the  matter  to  feel  very  much. 
Ajnd  then  we  need  that  we  should  more  seriously  reflect 
upon  the  facts  in  relation  to  our  own  personal  respon- 
sibihty  and  duty.  You  complain  of  the  triteness  of 
such  appeals  as  this  sermon.  Brethren,  have  you  ever 
tried  that  recipe  for  freshening  up  well-worn  truths, 
namely,  thinking  about  them  in  connection  with  the 
simplest,  most  important  of  all  questions — what,  then, 
ought  I  to  do  in  view  of  these  truths  ?  Am  I  exagger- 
ating when  I  say,  that  not  one-half  of  the  professing 
Christians  of  our  day  give  an  hour  in  the  year  to 
pondering  that  question,  with  reference  to  missionary 
work  ?  Oh  I  dear  friends,  see  to  it  that  you  Hve  in 
Christ  for  yourselves,  and  then  see  to  it  that  you  think 
His  thoughts  about  the  heathen  world,  till  your  pity  is 
stirred  and  your  mind  braced  to  the  firm  resolve  that 
you  too  will  work  the  works  of  Christ  and  bring  in  the 
wanderers. 

VTe  have  had  as  large  results  as  Christ  has  led  us  to 
expect,  and  far  larger  than  we   deserved.     Christian 


V.  16]  'OTHER  SHEEP'  71 

missions  are  yet  in  their  infancy — alas  I  that  it  should 
be  so.  But  in  these  seventy  years  since  they  may  be 
said  to  have  begun,  Tvhat  wonderful  successes  have  been 
achieved.  We  are  often  told  that  we  have  done  nothing. 
Is  it  so?  The  plant  has  been  got  together,  methods  of 
w^orking  have  been  systematised,  mistakes  in  some 
measure  corrected.  We  have  spent  much  of  our  time 
in  learning  how  to  work,  and  that  process  is  by  no 
means  over  yet.  But  with  all  these  deductions,  which 
ought  fairly  to  be  made,  how  much  has  been  accom- 
plished? The  Bible  has  been  put  into  the  languages  of 
seven  hundred  millions  of  men.  The  beginnings  of  a 
Christian  literature  have  been  supplied  for  five-sixths 
of  the  world.  Half  a  million  of  professed  converts  have 
been  gathered  in,  or  as  many  as  there  were  at  the  end 
of  the  fii^st  century,  after  about  the  same  number  of 
years  of  labour,  and  with  apostles  for  missionaries  and 
miracles  for  proof.  And  if  these  still  bear  on  their 
ankles  the  marks  of  the  fetters,  and  limp  as  they  walk, 
or  cannot  see  very  clearly  at  fii'st,  it  is  no  more  than 
might  be  expected  from  their  long  darkness  in  the 
prison-house,  and  it  is  no  more  than  Paul  had  to 
contend  with  at  Ephesus  and  Corinth. 

Every  church  that  has  engaged  in  the  toil  ha*  shared 
in  the  blessing,  and  has  its  own  instances  of  special 
prosperity.  We  have  had  Jamaica;  the  London 
Missionary  Society,  Madagascar,  and  the  South  Seas ; 
the  Wesleyans,  Fiji ;  the  Episcopal  Societies,  Tinne- 
velly ;  the  American  brethren,  Burmah,  and  the 
Karens.  Some  of  the  ruder  mythologies  have  been  so 
utterly  extirpated  that  the  children  of  idolaters  have 
seen  the  gods  whom  their  fathers  worshipped  for  the 
fii'st  time  in  the  British  Museum.  While  over  those 
more  compact  and  scientific  systems  which  lie  like  an 


72  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.x. 

incubus  on  mighty  peoples,  there  has  crept  a  sickening 
consciousness  of  a  coming  doom,  and  they  already  half 
own  their  conqueror  in  the  Stronger  One  than  they. 

'  They  feel  from  Judah's  land 
The  dreaded  Infant's  hand.' 

'  Bel  boweth  down,  Nebo  stoopeth,  the  idols  are  upon 
the  beasts.'  Surely  God  has  granted  us  success  enough 
for  our  thankful  confidence,  more  than  enough  for  our 
deserts.  I  repeat  it,  it  is  as  much  as  He  promised,  as 
much  as  we  had  any  right  to  expect,  and  it  is  a  vast  deal 
more  than  any  other  system  of  belief  or  of  no  belief, 
any  of  your  spiritualised  Christianities,  or  still  more 
intangible  creeds  has  ever  managed,  or  ever  thought  of 
trying.  To  those  who  taunt  us  with  no  success,  and  who 
perhaps  would  not  dislike  Christian  missions  so  much 
if  they  disliked  Christian  truth  a  little  less,  we  may 
very  fairly  and  calmly  answer — This  rod  has  budded  at 
all  events  ;  do  you  the  same  with  your  enchantments. 

But  the  past  is  no  measure  of  the  future.  From  the 
very  nature  of  the  undertaking  the  ratio  of  progress 
increases  at  a  rapid  rate.  The  first  ten  years  of  labour 
in  India  showed  twenty-seven  converts,  the  seventh  ten 
showed  more  than  twenty-seven  thousand.  The  pre- 
paration may  be  as  slow  as  the  solemn  gathering  of  the 
thunder-clouds,  as  they  noiselessly  steal  into  their 
places,  and  slowly  upheave  their  grey  billowing  crests ; 
the  final  success  may  be  as  swift  as  the  lightning  which 
flashes  in  an  instant  from  one  side  of  the  heavens  to 
the  other.  It  takes  long  years  to  hew  the  tunnel,  to 
'  make  the  crooked  straight,  and  the  rough  places  plain,' 
and  then  smooth  and  fleet  the  great  power  rushes  along 
the  rails.  To  us  the  cry  comes,  'Prepare  ye  in  the 
desert  an  highway  for  our  God.'    The  toil  is  sore  and 


V.16]  'OTHER  SHEEP'  73 

long,  but  *  the  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  be  revealed,  and 
all  flesh  shall  see  it  together.'  The  Alpine  summits  lie 
white  and  ghastly  in  the  spring  sunshine,  and  it  seems 
to  pour  ineffectual  beams  on  their  piled  cold ;  but  by 
slow  degrees  it  is  silently  loosening  the  bands  of  the 
snow,  and  after  a  while  a  goat's  step,  as  it  passes  along 
a  rocky  ledge,  or  a  breath  of  wind  will  move  a  tiny 
particle,  and  in  an  instant  its  motion  spreads  over  a 
mile  of  mountain  side,  and  the  avalanche  is  rushing 
swifter  and  mightier  at  every  foot  down  to  the  valley 
below,  where  it  will  all  turn  into  sweet  water,  and 
ripple  glancing  in  the  sunshine.  Such  is  our  work.  It 
may  seem  very  hopeless,  and  be  mostly  unobservable 
in  surface  results,  but  it  is  very  real  for  all  that.  The 
conquering  impulse,  for  which  our  task  may  have  been 
to  prepare  the  way,  will  be  given,  and  then  we  shall 
wonder  to  see  how  surely  the  kingdom  was  coming, 
even  when  we  observed  it  not. 

Ye  have  need  of  patience,  and  to  feed  your  patience, 
ye  have  need  of  fellowship  with  Christ,  of  faith  in 
His  promises,  of  sympathy  with  His  mind.  God  has 
given  us,  dear  brethren,  special  reason  for  renewed 
consecration  to  this  service  in  the  blessings  which 
have  during  the  year  terminated  our  anxieties  and 
crowned  our  work  for  our  own  Society.  But  let  us 
not  dwell  upon  what  has  been  done.  These  successes 
are  brooks  by  the  way  at  which  we  may  drink — 
nothing  more.  We  ought  to  be  like  shepherds  in  the 
lonely  mountain  glens,  who  see  in  the  fast-falling  snow 
and  the  bitter  blast  a  summons  to  the  hillside,  and 
there  all  the  night  long  wherever  the  drift  lies  deepest 
and  the  wind  bites  the  most  sharply,  search  the  most 
eagerly  for  the  poor  half-dead  creatures,  and  as  they 
find  each,  bear  it  back  to  the  safe  shelter,  nor  stay 


74  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.xi. 

behind  to  count  the  rescued,  nor  to  rest  their  weariness, 
for  all  the  bright  light  in  the  cottage  and  the  blackness 
without,  but  forth  again  on  the  same  quest,  till  all  the 
Master's  sheep  have  been  rescued  from  the  white  death 
that  lay  treacherous  around,  and  are  sleeping  at  peace 
in  His  folds.  A  mighty  Voice  ought  ever  to  be  sounding 
in  our  ears, '  Other  sheep  I  have,'  and  the  answer  of  our 
hearts  and  of  our  lives  should  be,  '  Them  also,  O  Lord ! 
will  I  try  to  bring.'  Not  till  the  far-off  issue  is  accom- 
plished shall  we  have  a  right  to  rest,  and  then  we,  with 
all  those  He  has  helped  us  to  gather  to  His  side,  shall  be 
among  that  flock,  whom  He  w^ho  is  at  once  Lamb  and 
Shepherd,  our  Brother  and  our  Lord,  our  Sacrifice  and 
King, '  shall  feed  and  lead  by  living  fountains  of  waters,' 
in  the  sweet  pastures  of  the  upper  world,  where  there 
are  no  ravening  wolves,  nor  false  guides  to  terrify  and 
bewilder  His  flock  any  more  at  all  for  ever. 


THE  DELAYS  OF  LOVE 

'  Now  Jesus  loved  Martha,  and  her  sister,  and  Lazarus.  When  He  had  heard 
therefore  that  he  was  sick,  He  abode  two  days  still  in  the  same  place  where  He 
was.'— John  xi.  5,  6. 

We  learn  from  a  later  verse  of  this  chapter  that 
Lazarus  had  been  dead  four  days  when  Christ  reached 
Bethany.  The  distance  from  that  village  to  the 
probable  place  of  Christ's  abode,  when  He  received 
the  message,  was  about  a  day's  journey.  If,  therefore, 
to  the  two  days  on  which  He  abode  still  after  the 
receipt  of  the  news,  we  add  the  day  which  the 
messengers  took  to  reach  Him  and  the  day  which 
He  occupied  in  travelling,  we  get  the  four  days  since 
which  Lazarus  had  been  laid  in  his  grave.  Conse- 
quently the  probability  is   that,  when  our  Lord  had 


vs.  5, 6]        THE  DELAYS  OF  LOA^E  75 

the  message,  the  man  was  dead.  Christ  did  not  remain 
still,  therefore,  in  order  to  work  a  greater  miracle  by 
raising  Lazarus  from  the  dead  than  He  would  have 
done  by  healing,  but  He  stayed — strange  as  it  would 
appear— for  reasons  closely  connected  with  the  highest 
well-being  of  all  the  beloved  three,  and  because  He 
loved  them. 

John  is  always  very  particular  in  his  use  of  that 
word  'therefore,'  and  he  points  out  many  a  subtle 
and  beautiful  connection  of  cause  and  effect  by  his 
employment  of  it.  I  do  not  know  that  any  of  them 
are  more  significant  and  more  full  of  illumination 
with  regard  to  the  ways  of  divine  providence  than 
the  instance  before  us.  How  these  two  sisters  must 
have  looked  down  the  rocky  road  that  led  up  from 
Jericho  during  those  four  weary  days,  to  see  if  there 
were  any  signs  of  His  coming.  How  strange  it  must 
have  appeared  to  the  disciples  themselves  that  He 
made  no  sign  of  movement,  notwithstanding  the 
message.  Perhaps  John's  scrupulous  carefulness  in 
pointing  out  that  His  love  was  Christ's  reason  for 
His  quiescence  may  reflect  a  remembrance  of  the 
doubts  that  had  crept  over  the  minds  of  himself  and 
his  brethren  during  these  two  days  of  strange  in- 
action. The  Evangelist  will  have  us  learn  a  lesson, 
which  reaches  far  beyond  the  instance  in  hand,  and 
casts  light  on  many  dark  places. 

I.  Christ's  delays  are  the  delays  of  love. 

We  have  all  of  us,  I  suppose,  had  experience  of 
desires  for  the  removal  of  bitterness  or  sorrows,  or 
for  the  fulfilment  of  expectations  and  wishes,  which 
we  believed,  on  the  best  evidence  that  we  could  find, 
to  be  in  accordance  with  His  will,  and  which  we  have 
been  able  to  make  prayers  out  of,  in  true  faith  and 


76  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.xi. 

submission,  which  prayers  have  had  to  be  offered  over 
and  over  and  over  again,  and  no  answer  has  come. 
It  is  part  of  the  method  of  Providence  that  the  lifting 
away  of  the  burden  and  the  coming  of  the  desires 
should  be  a  hope  deferred.  And  instead  of  stumbling 
at  the  mystery,  or  feeling  as  if  it  made  a  great  demand 
upon  our  faith,  would  it  not  be  wiser  for  us  to  lay 
hold  of  that  little  word  of  the  Apostle's  here,  and  to 
see  in  it  a  small  window  that  opens  out  on  to  a  bound- 
less prospect,  and  a  glimpse  into  the  very  heart  of  the 
divine  motives  in  His  dealings  with  us  ? 

If  we  could  once  get  that  conviction  into  our  hearts, 
how  quietly  we  should  go  about  our  work!  What  a 
beautiful  and  brave  patience  there  would  be  in  us,  if 
we  habitually  felt  that  the  only  reason  which  actuates 
God's  providence  in  its  choice  of  times  of  fulfilling  our 
desires  and  lifting  away  our  bitterness  is  our  own 
good!  Nothing  but  the  purest  and  simplest  love, 
transparent  and  without  a  fold  in  it,  sways  Him  in 
all  that  He  does.  Why  should  it  be  so  difficult  for 
us  to  believe  this?  If  we  were  more  in  the  way  of 
looking  at  life,  with  all  its  often  unwelcome  duty,  and 
its  arrows  of  pain  and  sorrow,  and  all  the  disappoint- 
ments and  other  ills  that  it  is  heir  to,  as  a  discipline, 
and  were  to  think  less  about  the  unpleasantness,  and 
more  about  the  purpose,  of  what  befalls  us,  we  should 
find  far  less  difficulty  in  understanding  that  His  delay 
is  born  of  love,  and  is  a  token  of  His  tender  care. 

Sorrow  is  prolonged  for  the  same  reason  as  it  was 
sent.  It  is  of  little  use  to  send  it  for  a  little  while. 
In  the  majority  of  cases,  time  is  an  element  in  its 
working  its  right  effect  upon  us.  If  the  weight  is 
lifted,  the  elastic  substance  beneath  springs  up  again. 
As  soon  as  the  wind  passes  over  the  cornfield,  the 


vs.  5, 6]        THE  DELAYS  OF  LOVE  77 

bowing  ears  raise  themselves.  You  have  to  steep  foul 
things  in  water  for  a  good  while  before  the  pure  liquid 
washes  out  the  stains.  And  so  time  is  an  element  in 
all  the  good  that  we  get  out  of  the  discipline  of  life. 
Therefore,  the  same  love  which  sends  must  necessarily 
protract,  beyond  our  desires,  the  discipline  under  which 
we  are  put.  If  we  thought  of  it,  as  I  have  said, 
more  frequently  as  discipline  and  schooling,  and  less 
frequently  as  pain  and  a  burden,  we  should  understand 
the  meaning  of  things  a  great  deal  better  than  we  do, 
and  should  be  able  to  face  them  with  braver  hearts, 
and  with  a  patient,  almost  joyous,  endurance. 

If  we  think  of  some  of  the  purposes  of  our  sorrows 
and  burdens,  we  shall  discern  still  more  clearly  that 
time  is  needed  for  accomplishing  them,  and  that, 
therefore,  love  must  delay  its  coming  to  take  them 
away.  For  example,  the  object  of  them  all,  and  the 
highest  blessing  that  any  of  us  can  obtain,  is  that 
our  wills  should  be  bent  until  they  coincide  with  God's, 
and  that  takes  time.  The  shipwright,  when  he  gets  a 
bit  of  timber  that  he  wants  to  make  a  'knee'  out  of, 
knows  that  to  mould  it  into  the  right  form  is  not  the 
work  of  a  day.  A  will  may  be  broken  at  a  blow,  but 
it  will  take  a  while  to  hend  it.  And  just  because 
swiftly  passing  disasters  have  little  permanent  effect 
in  moulding  our  wills,  it  is  a  blessing,  and  not  an  evil, 
to  have  some  standing  fact  in  our  lives,  which  will 
make  a  continual  demand  upon  us  for  continually 
repeated  acts  of  bowing  ourselves  beneath  His  sweet, 
though  it  may  seem  severe,  will.  God's  love  in  Jesus 
Christ  can  give  us  nothing  better  than  the  opportunity 
of  bowing  our  wills  to  His,  and  saying,  '  Not  mine,  but 
Thine  be  done.'  If  that  is  why  He  stops  on  the  other 
side  of  Jordan,  and  does  not  come  even  to  the  loving 


78  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.xi. 

messages  of  beloved  hearts,  then  He  shows  His  love 
iu  the  sweetest  and  the  loftiest  form.  So,  dear  friends, 
if  you  carry  a  lifelong  sorrow,  do  not  think  that  it 
is  a  mystery  why  it  should  lie  upon  your  shoulders 
when  there  are  omnipotence  and  an  infinite  heart  in 
the  heavens.  If  it  has  the' effect  of  bending  you  to 
His  purpose,  it  is  the  truest  token  of  His  loving  care 
that  He  can  send.  In  like  manner,  is  it  not  worth 
carrying  a  weight  of  unfulfilled  wishes,  and  a  weari- 
ness of  unalleviated  sorrows,  if  these  do  teach  us  three 
things,  which  are  one  thing — faith,  endurance,  prayer- 
fulness,  and  so  knit  us  by  a  threefold  cord  that  cannot 
be  broken,  to  the  very  heart  of  God  Himself  ? 

II.  This  delayed  help  always  comes  at  the  right 
time. 

Do  not  let  us  forget  that  Heaven's  clock  is  different 
from  ours.  In  our  day  there  are  twelve  hours,  and 
in  God's  a  thousand  years.  What  seems  long  to  us 
is  to  Him  'a  little  while.'  Let  us  not  imitate  the  short- 
sighted impatience  of  His  disciples,  who  said,  'What 
is  this  that  He  saith,  A  little  while?  We  cannot  tell 
what  He  saith.'  The  time  of  separation  looked  so  long 
in  anticipation  to  them,  and  to  Him  it  had  dwindled 
to  a  moment.  For  two  days,  eight-and-forty  hours,  He 
delayed  His  answer  to  Mary  and  Martha,  and  ^ey 
thought  it  an  eternity,  while  the  heavy  hours  crept 
by,  and  they  only  said,  '  It 's  very  weary,  He  cometh 
not,  they  said.'  How  long  did  it  look  to  them  when 
they  had  got  Lazarus  back  ? 

The  longest  protraction  of  the  fulfilment  of  the  most 
yearning  expectation  and  fulfilled  desire  will  seem  but 
as  the  winking  of  an  eyelid  when  we  get  to  estimate 
duration  by  the  same  scale  by  which  He  estimates  it, 
the  scale  of  Eternity.    The  ephemeral  insect,  born  in 


vs.  5, 6]        THE  DELAYS  OF  LOVE  79 

the  morning  and  dead  when  the  day  fades,  has  a  still 
minuter  scale  than  ours,  but  we  should  not  think  of 
regulating  our  estimate  of  long  and  short  by  it.  Do 
not  let  us  commit  the  equal  absurdity  of  regulating  the 
march  of  His  providence  by  the  swift  beating  of  our 
timepieces.  God  works  leisurely  because  God  has 
eternity  to  work  in. 

The  answer  always  comes  at  the  right  time,  and  is 
punctual  though  delayed.  For  instance,  Peter  is  in 
prison.  The  Church  keeps  praying  for  him ;  prays  on, 
day  after  day.  No  answer.  The  week  of  the  feast 
comes.  Prayer  is  made  intensely  and  fervently  and 
continuously.  No  answer.  The  slow  hours  pass  away. 
The  last  day  of  his  life,  as  it  would  appear,  comes  and 
goes.  No  answer.  The  night  gathers ;  prayer  rises  to 
heaven.  The  last  hour  of  the  last  watch  of  the  last 
night  that  he  had  to  live  has  come,  and  as  the  veil  of 
darkness  is  thinning,  and  the  day  is  beginning  to  break, 
'the  angel  of  the  Lord  shone  round  about  him.'  But 
there  is  no  haste  in  his  deliverance.  All  is  done  leisurely, 
as  in  the  confidence  of  ample  time  to  spare,  and  perfect 
security.  He  is  bidden  to  arise  quickly,  but  there  is  no 
hurry  in  the  stages  of  his  liberation.  'Gird  thyself 
and  bind  on  thy  sandals.'  He  is  to  take  time  to  lace 
them.  There  is  no  fear  of  the  quaternion  of  soldiers 
waking,  or  of  there  not  being  time  to  do  all.  We  can 
fancy  the  half-sleeping  and  wholly-bewildered  Apostle 
fumbling  at  the  sandal-strings,  in  dread  of  some  move- 
ment rousing  his  guards,  and  the  calm  angel  face 
looking  on.  The  sandals  fastened,  he  is  bidden  to  put 
on  his  garments  and  follow.  With  equal  leisure  and 
orderliness  he  is  conducted  through  the  first  and  the 
second  guard  of  sleeping  soldiers  and  then  through  the 
prison  gate.     He  might  have  be  m  lifted  at  once  cleap 


80  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.xi. 

out  of  his  dungeon,  and  set  down  in  the  house  where 
many  were  gathered  praying  for  him.  But  more 
signal  was  the  demonstration  of  power  which  a  deliver- 
ance so  gradual  gave,  when  it  led  him  slowly  past  all 
obstacles  and  paralysed  their  power.  God  is  never  in 
haste.  He  never  comes  too  soon  nor  too  late.  'The 
Lord  shall  help  them,  and  that  right  early.'  Senna- 
cherib's army  is  round  the  city,  famine  is  within  the 
walls.  To-morrow  will  be  too  late.  But  to-night  the 
angel  strikes,  and  the  enemies  are  all  dead  men.  So 
God's  delay  makes  the  deliverance  the  more  signal  and 
joyous  when  it  is  granted.  And  though  hope  deferred 
may  sometimes  make  the  heart  sick,  the  desire,  when  it 
comes,  is  a  tree  of  life. 

III.  The  best  help  is  not  delayed. 

The  principle  which  we  have  been  illustrating  applies 
only  to  one  half — and  that  the  less  important  half — of 
our  prayers  and  of  Christ's  answers.  For  in  regard  to 
spiritual  blessings,  and  our  petitions  for  fuller,  purer, 
and  diviner  life,  there  is  no  delay.  In  that  region  the 
law  is  not '  He  abode  still  two  days  in  the  same  place,' 
but '  Before  they  call  I  will  answer,  and  while  they  are 
yet  speaking  I  will  hear.'  If  you  have  been  praying 
for  deeper  knowledge  of  God,  for  lives  liker  His,  for 
hearts  more  filled  with  the  Spirit,  and  have  not  had 
the  answer,  do  not  fall  back  upon  the  misapplication 
of  such  a  principle  as  this  of  my  text,  which  has  nothing 
to  do  with  that  region ;  but  remember  that  the  only 
reason  why  good  people  do  not  immediately  get  the 
blessings  of  the  Christian  life  for  which  they  ask  lies  in 
themselves,  and  not  at  all  in  God.  '  Ye  have  not,  because 
ye  ask  not.  Ye  ask  and  have  not,  because ' — not  because 
He  delays,  but  because — *ye  ask  amiss,'  or  because, 
having  asked,  you  get  up  from  your  knees  and  go 


vs.  5, 6]     CHRIST'S  QUESTION  TO  EACH    81 

away,  not  looking  to  see  whether  the  blessing  is  coming 
down  or  not. 

Ah!  there  is  a  sad  amount  of  lying  and  hypocrisy 
in  prayers  for  spiritual  blessings.  Many  petitioners  do 
not  want  to  have  them.  They  would  not  know  what 
to  do  with  them  if  they  got  them.  They  make  the 
requests  because  their  fathers  did  so  before  them,  and 
because  these  are  the  right  kind  of  things  to  say  in  a 
prayer.  Such  prayers  get  no  answers.  If  a  man  prays 
for  some  spiritual  enlargement,  and  then  goes  out  into 
the  world  and  lives  clean  contrary  to  his  prayers,  what 
right  has  he  to  say  that  God  delays  His  answers  ?  No, 
He  does  not  delay  His  answers,  but  we  push  back  His 
answers,  and  the  gift  that  is  given  we  will  not  take. 
Let  us  remember  that  the  two  halves  of  the  divine 
dealings  are  not  regulated  by  the  same  principle,  though 
they  be  regulated  by  the  same  motive;  and  that  the 
love  which  often  delays  for  our  good,  in  regard  to  the 
desires  that  have  reference  to  outward  things,  is  swift 
as  the  lightning  to  answer  every  petition  which  moves 
within  the  circle  of  our  spiritual  life. 

'  Whatsoever  things  ye  desire,  when  ye  stand  praying, 
believe  that'  then  and  there  'ye  receive  them';  and 
the  undelaying  God  will  take  care  that  *  you  shall  have 
them.' 


CHRIST'S  QUESTION  TO  EACH 

For  the  Young 

*.  .  .  Believest  thou  this?   She  saith  unto  Him,  Yea,  Lord.'— John  xi.  26, 27. 

As  each  of  these  annual  sermons  which  I  have  preached 
for  so  long  comes  round,  I  feel  more  solemnly  the  grow- 

VOL.  II.  F 


82  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.  xi. 

ing  probability  that  it  may  be  the  last.  Like  a  man 
nearing  the  end  of  his  day's  work,  I  want  to  make  the 
most  of  the  remaining  moments.  Whether  this  is  the 
last  sermon  of  the  sort  that  I  shall  preach  or  not,  it  is 
certainly  the  last  of  the  kind  that  some  of  you  will 
hear  from  me,  or  possibly  from  any  one. 

So,  dear  friends,  I  have  felt  that  neither  you  nor  I 
can  afford  to  waste  this  hour  in  considering  subjects  of 
secondary  interest,  appropriate  as  some  of  them  might 
be.  I  wish  to  come  to  the  main  point  at  once,  and  to 
press  upon  you  all,  and  especially  on  the  younger  por- 
tion of  this  audience,  the  question  of  your  own  personal 
religion. 

The  words  of  my  text,  as  you  will  probably  remem- 
ber, were  addressed  by  our  Lord  to  Martha,  as  she 
was  writhing  in  agony  over  her  dead  brother.  Christ 
proclaims,  with  singular  calmness  and  majesty,  His 
character  and  work  as  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life, 
and  then  seeks  to  draw  her  from  her  absorbing  sorrow 
to  an  effort  of  faith  which  shall  grasp  the  truths  He 
proclaims.  He  flashes  out  this  sudden  question,  like 
the  swift  thrust  of  a  gleaming  dagger.  It  is  a 
demand  for  credence  to  His  assertion — on  His  bare 
word — tremendous  as  that  assertion  is.  And  nobly 
was  the  demand  met  by  the  as  swift,  unfaltering 
answer,  '  Yea,  Lord,'  I  believe  in  Thee,  and  so  I  believe 
in  Thy  word. 

Now,  friends,  Jesus  Christ  is  putting  the  same  ques- 
tion to  each  of  us.  And  I  pray  that  our  answers  may 
be  Martha's. 

I.  Note,  first,  the  significance  of  the  question. 

'  This.'  What  is  this  ?  The  answer  will  tell  us  what 
are  the  central  essential  facts,  faith  in  which  makes  a 
Christian.      Of  course  the  form  in  which  our  Lord's 


vs.  26, 27]  CHRIST'S  QUESTION  TO  EACH    83 

previous  utterance  was  cast  was  coloured  by  the  cir- 
cumstances under  which  He  spoke,  and  was  so  shaped 
as  to  meet  the  momentary  exigency.  But  whilst  thus 
the  form  is  determined  by  the  fact  that  He  was  speak- 
ing to  a  heart  wrung  by  separation,  and  as  a  pre- 
liminary to  a  mighty  act  of  resurrection,  the  essential 
truths  which  are  so  expressed  are  those  which,  as  I 
believe,  constitute  the  fundamental  truths  of  Chris- 
tianity— the  very  core  and  heart  of  the  Gospel. 

Turn,  then,  but  for  a  moment,  to  what  immediately 
precedes  my  text.  Our  Lord  says  three  things.  First, 
He  asserts  His  supernatural  character  and  divine 
relation  to  life :  '  I  am  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life.' 
Next,  He  declares  that  it  is  possible  for  Him  to  com- 
municate to  dying  and  to  dead  men  a  life  which 
triumphs  over  death,  and  laughs  at  change,  and  persists 
through  the  superficial  experience  which  we  christen 
by  the  name  of  Death,  unaffected,  undiminished,  as 
some  sweet  spring  might  gush  up  in  the  heart  of  a 
salt,  solitary  sea.  And  then  He  declares  that  the  con- 
dition on  which  He,  the  Life-giver,  gives  of  His 
immortal  life  to  dying  men,  is  their  trust  in  Him. 
/^  These  three — His  character  and  work,  the  gifts  of 
which  His  hands  are  full,  and  the  way  by  which  the 
gifts  may  be  appropriated  by  us  men — these  three 
are,  as  I  take  it,  the  central  facts  of  Christianity. 
'  Believest  thou  this  ? ' 

The  question  comes  to  us  all;  and  in  these  days  of 
unsettlement  it  is  well  to  have  some  clear  understand- 
ing of  what  is  the  '  irreducible  minimum '  of  Christian 
teaching.  I  take  it  that  it  lies  here.  There  are  two 
opposite  errors  which,  like  all  opposite  errors,  are 
bolted  together,  and  revolve  round  a  common  centre. 
The  one  of  them  is  the  extreme  conservative  tendency 


84  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN         [ch.xi. 

which  regards  every  pin  and  bolt  of  the  tabernacle  as 
if  it  were  equally  sacred  with  the  altar  and  the  ark. 
And  the  other  is  the  tendency  which  christens  itself 
*  liberal  and  progressive,'  and  which  is  always  ready  to 
exchange  old  lamps,  though  they  have  burnt  brightly 
in  the  past,  for  new  ones  that  are  as  yet  only  glittering 
metal  and  untried.  In  these  days,  when  it  is  a  pre- 
sumption against  any  opinion,  that  our  fathers  believed 
it  (an  error  into  which  young  people  are  most  prone  to 
fall),  and  when,  by  the  energy  of  contradiction,  that 
error  has  evoked,  and  is  evoking,  the  opposite  exag- 
geration that  adheres  to  all  that  is  traditional,  to  all 
that  has  been  regarded  as  belonging  to  the  essentials 
of  the  Christian  faith,  and  so  is  fearful,  trembling  for 
the  Ark  of  God  when  there  is  no  need,  let  us  fall  back 
upon  these  great  words  of  the  Master,  and  see  that  the 
things  which  constitute  the  living  heart  of  His  message 
and  gift  to  the  world  are  neither  more  nor  less  than 
(these  three :  the  supernatural  Christ,  the  life  which  He 
imparts,  and  the  condition  on  which  He  bestows  it^ 
'  Believest  thou  this  ? '  If  you  do,  you  need  take  very 
little  heed  of  the  fluctuations  of  contemporary  opinion 
as  to  other  matters,  valuable  and  important  as  these 
may  be  in  their  place ;  and  may  let  men  say  what  they 
will  about  disputed  questions — about  the  method  by 
which  the  vehicle  of  revelation  has  been  created  and 
preserved,  about  the  regulation  of  the  external  forms 
of  the  Church,  about  a  hundred  other  things  that  men 
often  lose  their  tempers  and  spoil  their  Christianity 
by  fighting  for,  and  fall  back  upon  the  great  central 
verity,  a  Christ  from  above,  the  Giver  of  Life  to  all 
that  put  their  trust  in  Him. 

Let  me  expand  this  question  for  you.    '  We  all  have 
sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God ' — '  believest 


vs. 26, 27]  CHRIST'S  QUESTION  TO  EACH    85 

thou  this  ? '  *  We  must  all  appear  before  the  judgment- 
seat  of  Christ  '-^*  believest  thou  this  ? '  '  God  so  loved 
the  world  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son,  that 
whosoever  believeth  on  Him  should  not  perish' — 'be- 
lievest thou  this  ? '  '  The  Son  of  Man  came  ...  to  give 
His  life  a  ransom  for  many' — 'believest  thou  this?' 
'  Being  justified  by  faith  we  have  peace  with  God  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ' — '  believest  thou  this  ? '  '  Now 
is  Christ  risen  from  the  dead,  and  become  the  first 
fruits  of  them  that  slept ' — 'believest  thou  this  ? '  'I  go  to 
prepare  a  place  for  you ' — '  believest  thou  this  ? '  '  Where 
I  am  there  shall  also  My  servant  be ' — '  believest  thou 
this  ? '  *  So  shall  we  ever  be  with  the  Lord ' — '  believest 
thou  this  ? '  That  is  Christianity ;  and  not  theories 
about  inspiration,  and  priesthood,  and  sacramental 
efficacy,  or  any  of  the  other  thorny  questions  which 
have,  in  the  course  of  ages,  started  up.  Here  is  the 
living  centre  ;  hold  fast,  I  beseech  you,  by  it. 

Then,  again,  the  significance  of  this  question  is  in  the 
direction  of  making  clear  for  us  the  way  by  which 
men  lay  hold  of  these  great  truths.  The  truths  are  of 
such  a  sort  as  that  merely  to  say,  '  Oh  yes,  I  believe  it ; 
it  is  quite  true ! '  is  by  no  means  sufficient.  If  a  man 
tells  me  that  two  parallel  lines  produced  ever  so  far 
will  never  meet,  I  say,  '  Yes,  I  believe  it ' ;  and  there  is 
nothing  more  to  be  done  or  said.  If  a  man  says  to  me, 
'  Two  and  two  make  four,'  I  say, '  Yes ' ;  and  there  my 
assent  ends.  If  a  man  says,  '  It  is  right  to  do  right,'  it 
is  quite  clear  that  the  attitude  of  intellectual  assent, 
which  was  quite  enough  for  the  other  order  of  state- 
ments, is  not  enough  for  this  one ;  and  to  merely  say, 
'  Oh  yes,  it  is  right  to  do  right,'  is  by  no  means  the  only 
attitude  which  we  ought  to  take  in  regard  to  such  a 
truth.     And  if  God  comes  to  me  and  says, '  Thou  art  a 


86  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.xi. 

sinful  man,  and  Jesus  Christ  has  died  for  thee ;  and  if 
thou  takest  Him  for  thy  Saviour  thou  shalt  be  saved  in 
this  life,  and  saved  for  ever,'  it  is  just  as  clear  that  no 
mere  acceptance  of  the  saying  as  a  verity  exhausts  my 
proper  attitude  in  reference  to  it.  Or  to  come  to 
plainer  words,  no  man  v^ill  really,  and  out  and  out,  and 
adequately,  believe  this  gospel  unless  he  does  a  great  deal 
more  than  assent  to  it  or  refrain  from  contradicting  it. 

So  I  desire  to  urge  this  form  of  the  question  on  you 
now.  Dear  brethren,  do  you  trust  in  '  this,'  which 
you  say  you  believe  ?  There  is  no  greater  enemy  of 
the  Christian  faith  than  the  ordinary  lazy — what  the 
philosophers  call  otiose,  which  is  only  a  grand  word  for 
lazy — assent  of  the  understanding,  because  men  will 
not  take  the  trouble  to  contradict  it  or  think  about  it. 

That  is  the  sort  of  Christianity  which  is  the  Chris- 
tianity of  a  good  many  church  and  chapel-goers.  They 
do  not  care  enough  about  the  subject  to  contradict 
the  ordinary  run  of  belief.  Of  all  impotent  things 
there  is  nothing  more  impotent  than  a  creed  which  lies 
idly  in  a  man's  head,  and  never  has  touched  his  heart 
or  his  will.  Why,  I  should  get  on  a  great  deal  better  if 
I  were  talking  to  people  that  had  never  heard  anything 
about  the  gospel  than  I  have  any  chance  of  getting  on 
with  you,  who  have  been  drenched  with  it  all  your 
days,  till  it  goes  over  you  and  runs  off  like  water  off  a 
duck's  back.  The  shells  that  were  hurled  against  the 
earthworks  of  Sebastopol  broke  away  the  front  surface 
of  the  mounds,  and  then  the  rubbish  protected  the 
fortifications;  and  that  is  what  happens  with  many 
of  my  hearers.  You  have  heard  the  gospel  so  often 
that  the  debris  of  your  old  hearings  is  raised  between 
you  and  me,  and  my  words  cannot  get  at  you.  'Be- 
lie vest  thou  this  ? ' — not  in  the  fashion  in  which  people 


vs.  26, 27]  CHRIST'S  QUESTION  TO  EACH    87 

stand  up  in  church  or  chapel  and  look  about  them  and 
rattle  off  the  Creed  every  Sunday  of  their  lives,  and 
attach  not  the  ghost  of  an  idea  to  a  single  clause  of  it ; 
but  in  the  sense  that  the  conviction  of  these  truths  is 
so  deep  in  your  hearts  that  it  moves  your  whole  nature 
to  cast  yourselves  on  Jesus  Christ  as  your  Saviour  and 
your  all.  That  is  the  belief  to  which  alone  the  life  that 
is  promised  here  will  come.  Oh !  brethren,  I  have  no 
business  to  ask  you  the  question,  and  you  have  no  need 
to  answer  it  to  me!  Sometimes  good,  well-meaning 
people  do  a  mint  of  harm  by  pushing  such  questions 
into  the  faces  of  people  unprepared.  But  take  the  ques- 
tion into  your  own  hearts,  and  remember  what  belief 
is,  and  what  it  is  that  you  have  to  believe,  and  answer 
according  to  its  true  significance,  and  in  the  light  of 
conscience,  the  solemn  question  that  I  press  upon  you. 

II.  Now,  secondly,  let  me  ask  you  to  think  of  what 
depends  upon  the  answer. 

In  the  case  before  us — if  I  may  look  back  to  it  for  an 
instant — there  is  a  very  illuminative  instance  of  what 
did  depend  upon  it.  Martha  had  to  believe  that  Christ 
was  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life  as  a  condition  pre- 
cedent to  her  seeing  that  He  was  so.  For,  as  He  said 
Himself  before  He  spoke  the  mighty  word  which  raised 
Lazarus,  '  Said  I  not  unto  thee  that  if  thou  wouldest 
believe,  thou  shouldest  see  the  glory  of  God  ? '  and  so 
her  faith  was  the  condition  of  her  being  able  to  verify 
the  facts  which  her  faith  grasped.  Well,  let  me  put 
that  into  plainer  words.  It  is  just  this — a  man  gets  from 
Christ  what  he  trusts  Christ  to  give  him,  and  there 
is  no  other  way  of  proving  the  truth  of  His  promises 
than  by  accepting  His  promises,  and  then  they  fulfil 
themselves.  You  cannot  know  that  a  medicine  will 
cure  you  till  you  swallow  it.     You  must  first  'taste' 


88  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [oh.xi. 

before  you  *  see  that  God  is  good.'  Faith  verifies  itself 
by  the  experience  it  brings. 

And  what  does  it  bring?  I  said,  all  for  which  a 
man  trusts  Christ.  All  is  summed  up  in  that  one 
favourite  word  of  our  Lord  as  revealed  in  this  fourth 
Gospel,  which  includes  in  itself  everything  of  blessed- 
ness and  of  righteousness  —  life,  life  eternal.  Dear 
brethren,  you  and  I,  apart  from  Jesus  Christ,  are  dead 
in  trespasses  and  sins.  The  life  that  we  live  in  the 
flesh  is  an  apparent  life,  which  covers  over  the  true 
death  of  separation  from  God.  And  you  young  people, 
fix  this  in  your  minds  at  the  beginning,  it  will  save 
you  many  a  heartache,  and  many  an  error — there  is 
nothing  worth  calling  life,  except  that  which  comes  to 
a  quiet  heart  submissive  and  enfranchised  through 
faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  And  if  you  will  trust  your- 
selves to  Him,  and  answer  this  question  with  your 
ringing  '  Yea,  Lord ! '  then  you  will  get  a  life  which 
will  quicken  you  out  of  your  deadness;  a  life  which 
will  mould  you  day  by  day  into  more  entire  beauty 
of  character  and  conformity  with  Himself;  a  life 
which  will  shed  sweetness  and  charm  over  dusty 
commonplaces,  and  make  sudden  verdure  spring  in 
dreary,  herbless  deserts;  a  life  which  will  bring  a 
solemn  joy  into  sorrow,  a  strength  for  every  duty; 
which  will  bring  manna  in  the  wilderness,  honey 
from  the  rock,  light  in  darkness,  and  a  present  God 
for  your  sufficient  portion;  a  life  which  will  run  on 
into  the  dim  glories  of  eternity,  and  know  no  change 
but  advancement,  through  the  millenniums  of  ages. 

But,  dear  brethren,  whilst  thus,  on  condition  of  their 
faith,  the  door  into  all  divine  and  endless  blessed- 
ness and  progress  is  flung  wide  open  for  men,  do  not 
forget  the  other  side  of  the  issues  which  depend  on 


vs.  26, 27]  CHRIST'S  QUESTION  TO  EACH    89 

this  question.  For  if  it  is  true  that  Jesus  Christ  is 
Life,  and  the  Source  of  it,  and  that  faith  in  Him  is 
the  way  by  which  you  and  I  get  it,  then  there  is  no 
escape  from  the  solemn  conclusion  that  to  be  out  of 
Christ,  and  not  to  be  exercising  faith  in  Him,  is  to 
be  infected  with  death,  and  to  be  shut  up  in  a  charnel- 
house.  I  dare  not  suppress  the  plain  teaching  of  Jesus 
Christ  Himself:  'He  that  hath  the  Son  hath  life;  he 
that  hath  not  the  Son  hath  not  life.'  The  issues  that 
depend  upon  the  answer  to  this  question  of  my  text 
may  be  summed  up,  if  I  may  venture  to  say  so,  by 
taking  the  words  of  our  Lord  Himself  and  convert- 
ing them  into  their  opposite.  He  said,  'He  that  be- 
lieveth  .  .  .  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live; 
and  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  on  Me  shall  never 
die.'  That  implies,  He  that  believeth  not  in  Christ, 
though  he  were  living,  yet  shall  he  die,  and  whosoever 
liveth  and  believeth  not  shall  never  live.  These  are 
the  issues — the  alternative  issues — that  depend  on  your 
answer  to  this  question. 

III.  And  now,  lastly,  let  me  ask  you  to  think  of  the 
direct  personal  appeal  to  every  soul  that  lies  in  this 
question. 

I  have  dwelt  upon  two  out  of  the  three  words  of 
which  the  question  is  composed — '  helievest  thou  this  ? ' 
Let  me  dwell  for  a  moment  on  the  third  of  them — 
'helievest  thou?' 

Now  that  suggests  the  thought  on  which  I  do  not 
need  to  dwell,  but  which  I  seek  briefly  to  lay  upon  your 
hearts  and  consciences — viz.,  the  intensely  personal  act 
of  your  own  faith,  by  which  alone  Jesus  Christ  can  be 
of  any  use  to  you.  Do  not  be  led  away  by  any  vague 
notions  which  people  have  about  the  benefits  of  a 
Church  or  its  ordinances.    Do  not  suppose  that  any 


90  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.xi. 

sacraments  or  any  priest  can  do  for  you  what  you 
have  to  do  in  the  awful  solitude  of  your  own  deter- 
mining will — put  out  your  hand  and  grasp  Jesus 
Christ.  Can  any  person  or  thing  be  the  condition  or 
channel  of  spiritual  blessing  to  you,  except  in  so  far 
as  your  own  individual  act  of  trust  comes  into  play? 
You  must  take  the  bread  with  your  own  hands,  you 
must  masticate  it  with  your  own  teeth,  you  must 
digest  it  with  your  own  organs,  before  it  can  minister 
nourishment  to  your  blood  and  force  to  your  life. 
And  there  is  only  one  way  by  which  any  man  can 
come  into  any  vital  and  life-giving  connection  with 
Jesus  Christ,  and  that  is,  by  the  exercise  of  his  own 
personal  faith. 

And  remember,  too,  that  as  the  exercise  of  uniting 
trust  in  Jesus  Christ  is  exclusively  your  own  affair, 
so  exclusively  your  own  affair  is  the  responsibility  of 
answering  this  question.  To  you  alone  is  it  addressed. 
You,  and  only  you,  have  to  answer  it. 

There  was  once  a  poor  woman  who  went  after  Jesus 
Christ,  and  put  out  a  pale,  wasted,  tremulous  finger  to 
touch  the  hem  of  His  garment.  His  fine  sensitiveness 
detected  the  light  pressure  of  that  petitioning  finger, 
and  allowed  virtue  to  go  out,  though  the  crowd  surged 
about  Him  and  thronged  Him.  No  crowds  come  be- 
tween you  and  Jesus  Christ.  You  and  He,  the  two  of 
you,  have,  so  to  speak,  the  world  to  yourselves,  and 
straight  to  you  comes  this  question,  '  Believest  thou  ? ' 

Ah  !  brethren,  that  habit  of  skulking  into  the  middle 
of  the  multitude,  and  letting  the  most  earnest  appeal 
from  the  pulpit  go  diffused  over  the  audience  is  the 
reason  why  you  sit  there  quiet,  complacent,  perhaps 
wholly  unaffected  by  what  I  am  trying  to  make  a 
pointed,  individual  address.      Suppose    all   the   other 


V8. 20,27]     OPEN  GRAVE  AT  BETHANY    91 

people  in  this  place  of  worship  were  away  but  you  and 
I,  would  not  the  word  that  I  am  trying  to  speak  come 
with  more  force  to  your  hearts  than  it  does  now? 
Well,  think  away  the  world  and  all  its  millions,  and 
realise  the  fact  that  you  stand  in  Christ's  presence, 
with  all  His  regard  concentrated  upon  you,  and  that  to 
thee  individually  this  question  comes  from  a  gracious, 
loving  heart,  which  longs  that  you  answer,  '  Yea,  Lord, 
I  believe ! ' 

Why  should  you  not  ?  Suppose  you  said  to  Him,  *  No, 
Lord,  I  do  not';  and  suppose  He  said,  'Why  do  you 
not?'  what  do  you  think  you  would  say  then?  You 
will  have  to  answer  it  one  day,  in  very  solemn  circum- 
stances, when  all  the  crowds  will  fall  away,  as  they  do 
from  a  soldier  called  out  of  the  ranks  to  go  up  and 
answer  for  mutiny  to  his  commanding  officer.  '  Every 
one  of  us  shall  give  an  account  of  himself,'  and  the  lips 
that  said  so  lovingly  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus, '  Believest 
thou  this  ? '  and  are  saying  it  again,  dear  friend,  to  you, 
even  through  my  poor  words,  will  ask  it  once  more. 
For  this  is  the  question  the  answer  to  which  settles 
whether  we  shall  stand  at  His  right  hand  or  at  His 
left.  Say  now,  with  humble  faith,  'Yea,  Lord!'  and 
you  will  have  the  blessing  of  them  who  have  not  seen, 
and  yet  have  believed. 


THE  OPEN  GRAVE  AT  BETHANY 

*  Now  Jesus  was  not  yet  come  into  the  town,  but  was  in  that  place  where  Martha 
met  Him.  The  Jews  then  which  were  with  her  in  the  house,  and  comforted 
her,  when  they  saw  Mary,  that  she  rose  up  hastily  and  went  out,  followed  her, 
saying,  She  goeth  unto  the  grave  to  weep  there.  Then  when  Mary  was  come 
where  Jesus  was,  and  saw  Him,  she  fell  down  at  His  feet,  saying  unto  Him,  Lord, 
if  Thou  hadst  been  here,  my  brother  had  not  died.  When  Jesus  therefore  saw 
her  weeping,  and  the  Jews  also  weeping  which  came  with  her.  He  groaned  in  the 
spirit,  and  was  troubled.  And  said,  Where  have  ye  laid  him  ?  They  say  unto 
fUm,  Lord,  come  and  see.  Jesus  wept.  Then  said  the  Jews,  Behold  how  He 
loved  hiia!    Aad  some  of  them  said,  Could  not  this  Man,  which  opened  the 


92  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.xi. 

eyes  of  the  blind,  have  caused  that  even  this  man  should  not  have  died  ?  Jesua 
therefore  again  groaning  in  Himself,  cometh  to  the  grave.  It  was  a  cave,  and  a 
stone  lay  upon  it.  Jesus  said.  Take  ye  away  the  stone.  Martha,  the  sister  of 
him  that  was  dead,  saith  unto  Him,  Lord,  by  this  time  he  stinketh :  for  he  hath 
been  dead  four  days.  Jesus  saith  unto  her.  Said  I  not  unto  thee,  that,  if  thou 
wouldest  believe,  thou  shouldest  see  the  glory  of  God?  Then  they  took  away 
the  stone  from  the  place  where  the  dead  was  laid.  And  Jesus  lifted  up  His  eyes, 
and  said.  Father,  I  thank  Thee  that  Thou  hast  heard  Me.  And  I  knew  that 
Thou  hearest  Me  always :  but  because  of  the  people  which  stand  by  I  said  it,  that 
they  may  believe  that  Thou  hast  sent  Me.  And  when  He  thus  had  spoken,  He 
cried  with  a  loud  voice,  Lazarus,  come  forth.  And  he  that  was  dead  came 
forth,  bound  hand  and  foot  with  graveclothes :  and  his  face  was  bound  about  with 
a  napkin.  Jesus  saith  unto  them,  Loose  him,  and  let  him  go.  Then  many  of 
the  Jews  which  came  to  Mary,  and  had  seen  the  things  which  Jesus  did,  believed 
on  Him.'— John  xi.  3045. 

Why  did  Jesus  stay  outside  Bethany  and  summon 
Martha  and  Mary  to  come  to  Him  ?  Apparently  that 
He  might  keep  Himself  apart  from  the  noisy  crowd 
of  conventional  mourners  whose  presence  affronted 
the  majesty  and  sanctity  of  sorrow,  and  that  He  might 
speak  to  the  hearts  of  the  two  real  mourners.  A 
divine  decorum  forbade  Him  to  go  to  the  house.  The 
Life-bringer  keeps  apart.  His  comforts  are  spoken  in 
solitude.  He  reverenced  grief.  How  beautifully  His 
sympathetic  delicacy  contrasts  with  the  heartless  rush 
of  those  who  'were  comforting'  Mary  when  they 
thought  that  she  was  driven  to  go  suddenly  to  the 
grave  by  a  fresh  burst  of  sorrow!  If  they  had  had 
any  real  sympathy  or  perception,  they  would  have 
stayed  where  they  were,  and  let  the  poor  burdened 
heart  find  ease  in  lonely  weeping.  But,  like  all  vulgar 
souls,  they  had  one  idea — never  to  leave  mourners 
alone  or  let  them  weep. 

Three  stages  seem  discernible  in  the  self-revelation 
of  Jesus  in  this  crowning  miracle :  His  agitation  and 
tears,  His  majestic  confidence  in  His  life-giving  power 
now  to  be  manifested,  and  His  actual  exercise  of  that 
power. 

I.  The  repetition  by  Mary  of  Martha's  words,  as  her 
first  salutation,  tells  a  pathetic  story  of  the  one  thought 


vs.  30-45]  OPEN  GRAVE  AT  BETHANY       93 

that  had  filled  both  sisters'  hearts  in  these  four  dreary- 
days.  Why  had  He  not  come  ?  How  easily  He  could 
have  come !  How  surely  He  could  have  prevented  all 
this  misery !  Confidence  in  His  power  blends  strangely 
with  doubt  as  to  His  care.  A  hint  of  reproach  is  in 
the  words,  but  more  than  a  hint  of  faith  in  His  might. 
He  does  not  rebuke  the  rash  judgment  implied,  for  He 
knew  the  true  love  underlying  it ;  but  He  does  not 
directly  answer  Mary,  as  He  had  done  Martha,  for  the 
two  sisters  needed  different  treatment. 

We  note  that  Mary  has  no  such  hope  as  Martha  had 
expressed.  Her  more  passive,  meditative  disposition 
had  bowed  itself,  and  let  the  grief  overwhelm  her.  So 
in  her  we  see  a  specimen  of  the  excess  of  sorrow  which 
indulges  in  the  monotonous  repetition  of  what  would 
have  happened  if  something  else  that  did  not  happen 
had  happened,  and  which  is  too  deeply  dark  to  let  a 
gleam  of  hope  shine  in.  Words  will  do  little  to  comfort 
such  grief.  Silent  sharing  of  its  weeping  and  helpful 
deeds  will  do  most. 

So  a  great  wave  of  emotion  swept  across  the  usually 
calm  soul  of  Jesus,  which  John  bids  us  trace  to  its 
cause  by  '  therefore '  (ver.  33).  The  sight  of  Mary's  real, 
and  the  mourners'  half -real,  tears,  and  the  sound  of 
their  loud  'keening,'  shook  His  spirit,  and  He  yielded 
to,  and  even  encouraged,  the  rush  of  feeling  ('  troubled 
Himself).  But  not  only  sympathy  and  sorrow  ruffled 
the  clear  mirror  of  His  spirit;  another  disturbing 
element  was  present.  He  'was  moved  with  indigna- 
tion' (Rev.  Yer.  marg.).  Anger  at  Providence  often 
mingles  with  our  grief,  but  that  was  not  Christ's 
indignation.  The  only  worthy  explanation  of  that 
strange  ingredient  in  Christ's  agitation  is  that  it  was 
directed  against  the  source  of  death, — namely,  sin.    He 


94  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.  xi. 

saw  the  cause  manifested  in  the  effects.  He  wept  for 
the  one,  He  was  wroth  at  the  other.  The  tears  wit- 
nessed to  the  perfect  love  of  the  man,  and  of  the  God 
revealed  in  the  man ;  the  indignation  witnessed  to  the 
recoil  and  aversion  from  sin  of  the  perfectly  righteous 
Man,  and  of  the  holy  God  manifested  in  Him.  We  get 
one  glimpse  into  His  heart,  as  on  to  some  ocean  heaving 
and  mist-covered.  The  momentary  sight  proclaims  the 
union  in  Him,  as  the  Incarnate  Word,  of  pity  for  our 
woes  and  of  aversion  from  our  sins. 

His  question  as  to  the  place  of  the  tomb  is  not  w^hat 
we  should  have  expected;  but  its  very  abruptness 
indicates  effort  to  suppress  emotion,  and  resolve  to  lose 
no  time  in  redressing  the  grief.  Most  sweetly  human 
are  the  tears  that  start  afresh  after  the  moment's 
repression,  as  the  little  company  begin  to  move 
towards  the  grave.  And  most  sadly  human  are  the 
unsympathetic  criticisms  of  His  sacred  sorrow.  Even 
the  best  affected  of  the  bystanders  are  cool  enough  to 
note  them  as  tokens  of  His  love,  at  which  perhaps 
there  is  a  trace  of  wonder;  while  others  snarl  out  a 
sarcasm  which  is  double-barrelled,  as  casting  doubt  on 
the  reality  either  of  the  love  or  of  the  power.  *It  is 
easy  to  weep,  but  if  He  had  cared  for  him,  and  could 
work  miracles.  He  might  surely  have  kept  him  alive.' 
How  blind  men  are!  'Jesus  wept,'  and  all  that  the 
lookers-on  felt  was  astonishment  that  He  should  have 
cared  so  much  for  a  dead  man  of  no  importance,  or 
carping  doubt  as  to  the  genuineness  of  His  grief  and 
the  reality  of  His  power.  He  shows  us  His  pity  and 
sorrow  still — to  no  more  effect  with  many. 

II.  The  passage  to  the  tomb  was  marked  by  his 
continued  agitation.  But  his  arrival  there  brought 
calm  and  majesty.    Now  the  time  has  come  which  He 


vs.  30-45]  OPEN  GRAVE  AT  BETHANY       95 

had  in  view  v^^hen  He  left  his  refuge  beyond  Jordan ; 
and,  as  is  often  the  case  with  ourselves,  suddenly 
tremor  and  tumult  leave  the  spirit  when  face  to  face 
with  a  moment  of  crisis.  There  is  nothing  more  re- 
markable in  this  narrative  than  the  contrast  between 
Jesus  weeping  and  indignant,  and  Jesus  serene  and 
authoritative  as  He  stands  fronting  the  cave-sepulchre. 
The  sudden  transformation  must  have  awed  the  gazers. 

He  points  to  the  stone,  which,  probably  like  that  of 
many  a  grave  discovered  in  Palestine,  rolled  in  a  groove 
cut  in  the  rocky  floor  in  front  of  the  tomb.  The  com- 
mand accords  with  His  continual  habit  of  confining  the 
miraculous  within  the  narrowest  limits.  He  will  do 
nothing  by  miracle  which  can  be  done  without  it. 
Lazarus  could  have  heard  and  emerged,  though  the 
stone  had  remained.  If  the  story  had  been  a  myth, 
he  very  likely  would  have  done  so.  Like  'loose  him, 
and  let  him  go,'  this  is  a  little  touch  that  cannot  have 
been  invented,  and  helps  to  confirm  the  simple,  histori- 
cal character  of  the  account. 

Not  less  natural,  though  certainly  as  unlikely  to  have 
been  told  unless  it  had  happened,  is  Martha's  interrup- 
tion. She  must  have  heard  what  was  going  on,  and, 
with  her  usual  activity,  have  joined  the  procession, 
though  we  left  her  in  the  house.  She  thinks  that  Jesus 
is  going  into  the  grave;  and  a  certain  reverence  for 
the  poor  remains,  as  well  as  for  Him,  makes  her  shrink 
from  the  thought  of  even  His  loving  eyes  seeing  them 
now.  Clearly  she  has  forgotten  the  dim  hopes  which 
had  begun  in  her  when  she  talked  with  Jesus.  There- 
fore He  gently  reminds  her  of  these ;  for  His  words 
(ver.  40)  can  scarcely  refer  to  anything  but  that  inter- 
view, though  the  precise  form  of  expression  now  used 
is  not  found  in  the  report  of  it  (vers.  25-27). 


96  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN         [ch.xi. 

We  mark  Christ's  calm  confidence  in  His  own  power, 
His  identification  of  its  effect  with  the  outflashing  of 
the  glory  of  God,  and  His  encouragement  to  her  to 
exercise  faith  by  suspending  her  sight  of  that  glory 
upon  her  faith.  Does  that  mean  that  He  would  not 
raise  her  brother  unless  she  believed  ?  No  ;  for  He  had 
determined  to  *  awake  him  out  of  sleep '  before  He  left 
Peraea.  But  Martha's  faith  was  the  condition  of  her 
seeing  the  glory  of  God  in  the  miracle.  We  may  see  a 
thousand  emanations  of  that  glory,  and  see  none  of  it. 
We  shall  see  it  if  we  exercise  faith.  In  the  natural 
world,  'seeing  is  believing ';  in  the  spiritual,  believing 
is  seeing. 

Equally  remarkable,  as  breathing  serenest  confidence, 
is  the  wonderful  filial  prayer.  Our  Lord  speaks  as  if 
the  miracle  were  already  accomplished,  so  sure  is  He  : 
'  Thou  heardest  Me.'  Does  this  thanksgiving  bring  Him 
down  to  the  level  of  other  servants  of  God  who  have 
wrought  miracles  by  divine  power  granted  them? 
Certainly  not ;  for  it  is  in  full  accord  with  the  teaching 
of  all  this  Gospel,  according  to  which  '  the  Son  can  do 
nothing  of  Himself,'  but  yet,  whatsoever  things  the 
Father  doeth,  'these  also  doeth  the  Son  likewise.' 
Both  sides  of  the  truth  must  be  kept  in  view.  The 
Son  is  not  independent  of  the  Father,  but  the  Son  is 
so  constantly  and  perfectly  one  with  the  Father  that 
He  is  conscious  of  unbroken  communion,  of  continual 
wielding  of  the  whole  divine  power. 

But  the  practical  purpose  of  the  thanksgiving  is  to 
be  specially  noted.  It  suspends  His  whole  claims  on  the 
single  issue  about  to  be  decided.  It  summons  the 
people  to  mark  the  event.  Never  before  had  He  thus 
heralded  a  miracle.  Never  had  He  deigned  to  say  thus 
solemnly,  'If  God  does  not  work  through  Me  now, 


/    vs.  30-15]  OPEN  GRAVE  AT  BETHANY       97 

reject  Me  as  an  impostor ;  if  He  does,  yield  to  Me  as 
Messiah.'  The  moment  stands  alone  in  His  life.  What 
a  scene !  There  is  the  open  tomb,  with  its  dead  occu- 
pant ;  there  are  the  eager,  sceptical  crowd,  the  sisters 
pausing  in  their  weeping  to  gaze,  with  some  strange 
hopes  beginning  to  creep  into  their  hearts,  the  silent 
disciples,  and,  in  front  of  them  all,  Jesus,  with  the 
radiance  of  power  in  the  eyes  that  had  just  been 
swimming  in  tears,  and  a  new  elevation  in  His  tones. 
How  all  would  be  hushed  in  expectance  of  the  next 
moment's  act ! 

III.  The  miracle  itself  is  told  in  the  fewest  words. 
What  more  was  there  to  tell  ?  The  two  ends,  as  it  were, 
of  a  buried  chain,  appear  above  ground.  Cause  and 
effect  were  brought  together.  Rather,  here  was  no  chain 
of  many  links,  as  in  physical  phenomena,  but  here  was 
the  life-giving  word,  and  there  was  the  dead  man  living 
again.  The  *  loud  voice '  was  as  needless  as  the  rolling 
away  of  the  stone.  It  was  but  the  sign  of  Christ's  will 
acting.  And  the  acting  of  His  will,  without  any  other 
cause,  produces  physical  effects. 

Lazarus  was  far  away  from  that  rock  cave.  But, 
wherever  he  was,  he  could  hear,  and  he  must  obey. 
So,  with  graved© thes  entangling  his  feet,  and  a  napkin 
about  his  livid  face,  he  came  stumbling  out  into  the 
light  that  dazed  his  eyes,  closed  for  four  dark  days,  and 
stood  silent  and  motionless  in  that  awestruck  crowd. 
One  Person  there  was  not  awestruck.  Christ's  calm 
voice,  that  had  just  reverberated  through  the  regions 
of  the  dead,  spoke  the  simple  command, '  Loose  him,  and 
let  him  go.'  To  Him  it  was  no  wonder  that  He  should 
give  back  a  life.  For  the  Christ  who  wept  is  the  Christ 
whose  voice  all  that  are  in  the  graves  shall  hear,  and 
shall  come  forth. 

VOL.  II.  Q 


THE  SEVENTH  MIRACLE  IN  JOHN'S  GOSPEL— 
THE  RAISING  OF  LAZARUS 

'And  when  Jeaus  thus  had  spoken.  He  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  Lazarus,  Come 
forth.  44.  And  he  that  was  dead  came  forth,  bound  hand  and  foot  with  grave- 
clothes  ;  and  his  face  was  bound  about  with  a  napkin.'— John  xi.  43,  44. 

The  series  of  our  Lord's  miracles  before  the  Passion,  as 
recorded  in  this  Gospel,  is  fitly  closed  ^dth  the  raising 
of  Lazarus.  It  crowns  the  whole,  whether  we  regard 
the  greatness  of  the  fact,  the  manner  of  our  Lord's 
working,  the  minuteness  and  richness  of  the  accom- 
panying details,  the  revelation  of  our  Lord's  heart,  the 
consolations  which  it  suggests  to  sorrowing  spirits,  or 
the  immortal  hopes  which  it  kindles. 

And  besides  all  this,  the  miracle  is  of  importance  for 
the  development  of  the  Evangelist's  purpose,  in  that 
it  makes  the  immediate  occasion  of  the  embittered 
hostility  which  finally  precipitates  the  catastrophe  of 
the  Cross.  Therefore  the  great  length  to  which  the 
narrative  extends. 

Of  course  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  attempt,  even  in  the 
most  cursory  manner,  to  go  over  the  whole.  We  must 
content  ourselves  with  dealing  with  one  or  two  of  the 
salient  points.  And  there  are  three  things  in  this  nar- 
rative which  I  think  well  worthy  of  our  notice.  There  is 
the  revelation  of  Christ  as  our  Brother,  by  emotion  and 
sorrow.  There  is  the  revelation  of  Christ  as  our  Lord  by" 
His  consciousness  of  divine  power.  There  is  the  revela- 
tion of  Christ  as  our  Life  by  His  mighty  life-giving  word. 
And  to  these  three  points  I  ask  you  to  turn  briefly. 

I.  First,  then,  we  have  here  a  revelation  of  Christ  as 
our  Brother,  by  emotion  and  sorrow. 

This  miracle  stands  alone  in  the  whole  majestic  series 
of  His  mighty  works  by  the  fact  that  it  is  preceded  by 
a  storm  of  emotion,  which  shakes  the  frame  of  the 


vs.  43,44]     THE  SEVENTH  MIRACLE  99 

Master,  which  He  is  represented  by  the  Evangelist  not 
so  much  as  suppressing  as  fostering,  and  which  diverges 
and  parts  itself  into  the  two  feelings  expressed  by  His 
groans  and  by  His  tears.  The  word  which  is  rendered 
in  our  version  'He  groaned  in  the  spirit,'  and  which  is 
twice  repeated  in  the  narrative,  is,  according  to  the  in- 
vestigations of  the  most  careful  philological  commenta- 
tors, expressive  not  only  of  the  outward  sign  of  an 
emotion,  but  of  the  nature  of  it.  And  the  nature  of  the 
emotion  is  not  merely  the  grief  and  the  sympathy 
which  distilled  in  tears,  but  it  is  something  deeper  and 
other  than  that.  The  word  contains  in  it  at  least  a  tinge 
of  the  passion  of  '  indignation '  (as  it  is  expressed  in  the 
margin  of  the  Revised  Version).  What  caused  the 
indignation  ?  Cannot  we  fancy  how  there  rose  up,  as 
in  pale,  spectral  procession  before  His  vision,  the  whole 
long  series  of  human  sorrows  and  losses,  of  which  one 
was  visible  there  before  Him  ?  He  saw,  in  the  one 
individual  case,  the  whole  genus.  He  saw  the  whole 
mass  represented  there,  the  ocean  in  the  drop,  and  He 
looked  beyond  the  fact  and  linked  it  with  its  cause. 
And  as  there  rose  before  Him  the  reality  of  man's 
desolation  through  sin,  and  the  thought  that  all  this 
misery,  loss,  pain,  parting,  death,  was  a  contradiction 
of  the  divine  purpose,  and  an  interruption  of  God's 
order,  and  that  it  had  all  been  pulled  down  upon  men's 
desperate  heads  by  their  own  evil  and  their  own  folly, 
there  rose  in  His  heart  the  anger  which  is  part  of  the 
perfectness  of  humanity  when  it  looks  upon  sorrow 
linked  by  adamantine  chains  with  sin. 

But  the  lightning  of  the  wrath  dissolved  soon  into 
the  rain  of  pity  aiid  of  sorrow,  and,  as  we  read,  'Jesus 
wept.'  Looking  upon  the  weeping  Mary  and  the 
lamenting  crowd,  and  Himself  feeling  the  pain  of  the 


100  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.xi. 

parting  from  the  friend  whom  He  loved,  the  tears,  which 
are  the  confession  of  human  nature  that  it  is  passing 
through  an  emotion  too  deep  for  words,  came  to  His 
all-seeing  eyes. 

Oh !  brethren,  surely — surely  in  this  manifestation, 
or  call  it  better,  this  revelation  of  Christ  the  Lord, 
expressed  in  these  two  emotions — surely  there  are 
large  and  blessed  lessons  for  us !  On  them  I  can 
only  touch  in  the  lightest  manner.  Here,  for  one 
thing,  is  the  blessed  sign  and  proof  of  His  true 
brotherhood  with  us.  This  Evangelist,  to  whom  it  was 
given  to  tell  the  Church  and  the  world  more  than  any 
of  the  others  had  imparted  to  them  of  the  divine 
uniqueness  of  the  Master's  person,  had  also  given  to 
him  in  charge  the  corresponding  and  complementary 
message — to  insist  upon  the  reality  and  the  verity  of 
His  manhood.  His  proclamation  was  'the  Word  was 
made  flesh,'  and  he  had  to  dwell  on  both  parts  of  that 
message,  showing  Him  as  the  Word  and  showing 
Him  as  flesh.  So  he  insists  upon  all  the  points  which 
emerge  in  the  course  of  his  narrative  that  show  the 
reality  of  Christ's  corporeal  manhood. 

He  joins  with  the  others,  who  had  no  such  lofty  pro- 
clamation entrusted  to  them,  in  telling  us  how  He  was 
'bone  of  our  bone,  and  flesh  of  our  flesh,'  in  that  He 
hungered  and  thirsted  and  slept,  and  was  wearied ; 
how  He  was  man,  reasonable  soul  and  human  spirit,  in 
that  He  grieved  and  rejoiced,  and  wondered  and  desired, 
and  mourned  and  wept.  And  so  we  can  look  upon  Him, 
and  feel  that  this  in  very  deed  is  One  of  ourselves,  with 
a  spirit  participant  of  all  human  experiences,  and  a 
heart  tremulously  vibrating  with  every  emotion  that 
belongs  to  man. 

Here  we  are  also  taught  the  sanction  and  the  limits 


V3. 43,41]    THE  SEVENTH  MIRACLE         101 

of  sorrow.  Christianity  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
false  Stoicism  and  the  false  religion  which  is  partly 
pride  and  partly  insincerity,  that  proclaims  it  wrong  to 
weep  when  God  smites.  But  just  as  clearly  and  dis- 
tinctly as  the  story  before  us  says  to  us,  '  Weep  for 
yourselves  and  for  the  loved  ones  that  are  gone,'  so 
distinctly  does  it  draw  the  limits  within  which  sorrow 
is  sacred  and  hallowing,  and  beyond  which  it  is  harm- 
ful and  weakening.  Set  side  by  side  the  grief  of  these 
two  poor  weeping  sisters,  and  the  grief  of  the  weeping 
Christ,  and  we  get  a  large  lesson.  They  could  only 
repine  that  something  else  had  not  happened  differently 
which  would  have  made  all  different.  *  If  Thou  hadst 
been  here,  my  brother  had  not  died.'  One  of  the  two 
sits  with  folded  arms  in  the  house,  letting  her  sorrow 
flow  over  her  pained  head.  Martha  is  unable,  by  reason 
of  her  grief,  to  grasp  the  consolation  that  is  held  out  to 
her ;  her  sorrow  has  made  the  hopes  of  the  future  seem 
to  her  very  dim  and  of  small  account,  and  she  puts 
away  '  Thy  brother  shall  rise  again '  with  almost  an 
impatient  sweep  of  her  hand.  *  I  know  that  he  will 
rise  in  the  resurrection  at  the  last  day.  But  oh !  that 
is  so  far  away,  and  what  I  want  is  present  comfort.' 
Thus  oblivious  of  duty,  murmuring  with  regard  to  the 
accidents  which  might  have  been  different,  and  unfitted 
to  grasp  the  hopes  that  fill  the  future,  these  two  have 
been  hurt  by  their  grief,  and  have  let  it  overflow  its 
banks  and  lay  waste  the  land.  But  this  Christ  in  His 
sorrow  checks  His  sorrow  that  He  may  do  His  work ; 
in  His  sorrow  is  confident  that  the  Father  hears ;  in  His 
sorrow  thinks  of  the  bystanders,  and  would  bring  com- 
fort and  cheer  to  them.  A  sorrow  which  makes  us 
more  conscious  of  communion  with  the  Father  who  is 
always  listening,  which  makes  us  more  eonscioua   of 


102  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.  xi. 

power  to  do  that  which  He  has  put  it  into  our  hand  to 
do,  which  makes  us  more  tender  in  our  sympathies 
with  all  that  mourn,  and  swifter  and  readier  for  our 
work — such  a  sorrow  is  doing  what  God  meant  for  us  ; 
and  is  a  blessing  in  so  thin  a  disguise  that  we  can 
scarcely  call  it  veiled  at  all. 

And  then,  still  further,  there  are  here  other  lessons 
on  which  I  cannot  touch.  Such,  for  instance,  is  the 
revelation  in  this  emotion  of  the  Master's,  of  a 
personal  love  that  takes  individuals  to  His  heart,  and 
feels  all  the  sweetness  and  the  power  of  friendship. 
That  personal  love  is  open  to  every  one  of  us,  and 
into  the  grace  and  the  tenderness  of  it  we  may  all 
penetrate.  'The  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved'  is  the 
Evangelist  who,  without  jealousy,  is  glad  to  tell  us 
that  the  same  loving  Lord  took  into  the  same  sanctuary 
of  His  pure  heart,  Mary  and  Martha,  and  her  brother. 
That  which  was  given  to  them  was  not  taken  from 
him,  and  they  each  possessed  the  whole  of  the  Master's 
love.  So  for  every  one  of  us  that  heart  is  wide  open, 
and  you  and  I,  brethren,  may  contract  such  personal 
relations  to  the  Master  that  we  shall  live  with  Christ 
as  a  man  with  his  friend,  and  may  feel  that  His  heart 
is  all  ours. 

So  much  for  the  lessons  of  the  emotions  whereby 
Christ  is  manifested  to  us  as  our  Brother. 

II.  And  now  turn,  in  the  next  place,  and  that  very 
briefly,  to  what  lies  side  by  side  with  this  in  the  story, 
and  at  first  sight  may  seem  strangely  contradictory  of 
it,  but  in  fact  only  completes  the  idea,  viz.  the  majestic, 
calm  consciousness  of  divine  power  by  which  He  is 
revealed  as  our  Lord. 

At  one  step  from  the  agitation  and  the  storm  of  feel- 
ing there  comes,  'Take  ye  away  the  stone.'    And  in 


vs.  43, 44]     THE  SEVENTH  MIRACLE         103 

answer  to  the  lamentations  of  the  sister  are  spoken  the 
great  and  wonderful  words,  '  Said  I  not  unto  thee  that 
if  thou  wouldst  believe,  thou  shouldst  see  the  glory  of 
God?'  And  He  looks  back  there  to  the  message  that  had 
been  sent  to  the  sisters  in  response  to  their  unspoken 
hope  that  He  would  come,  *  This  sickness  is  not  unto 
death,  but  for  the  glory  of  God,  that  the  Son  of  God 
may  be  glorified  thereby.'  And  He  shows  us  that  from 
the  first  moment,  with  the  spontaneousness  which,  as 
I  have  already  remarked  in  previous  sermons  on  these 
*  signs,'  characterises  all  the  miracles  of  John's  Gospel, 
'  He  Himself  knew  what  He  would  do,'  and  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  His  divine  power  had  resolved  that  the 
dead  Lazarus  should  be  the  occasion  for  the  manifesta- 
tion, the  flashing  out  to  the  world,  of  the  glory  of  God 
in  the  life-giving  Son. 

And  then,  in  the  same  tone  of  majestic  consciousness, 
there  follows  that  thanksgiving  prior  to  the  miracle  as 
for  the  accomplished  miracle.  '  I  thank  Thee  that  Thou 
hast  heard  Me,  and  I  knew  that  Thou  hearest  Me  always : 
but  because  of  the  people  which  stand  by  I  said  it,  that 
they  may  believe  that  Thou  hast  sent  Me.'  The  best 
commentary  upon  these  words,  the  deepest  and  the 
fullest  exposition  of  the  large  truths  that  lie  in  them 
concerning  the  co-operation  of  the  Father  and  the  Son, 
is  to  be  found  in  the  passage  from  the  fifth  chapter  of 
this  Gospel,  wherein  there  is  set  forth,  drawn  with  the 
firmest  hand,  the  clearest  lines  of  truth  upon  this  great 
and  profound  subject.  '  The  Son  does  nothing  of  Him- 
self,' but '  whatsoever  the  Father  doeth,  that  doeth  the 
Son  likewise.'  A  consciousness  of  continual  co-opera- 
tion with  the  Almighty  Father,  a  consciousness  that 
His  will  continually  coincides  with  the  Father's  w^ill, 
that  unto  Him  there  comes  the  power  ever  to  do  all 


104  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.  xi. 

that  Omnipotence  can  do,  and  that  though  we  may 
speak  of  a  gift  given  and  a  power  derived,  the  relation 
between  the  giving  Father  and  the  recipient  Son  is 
altogether  different  from,  and  other  than  the  relation 
between,  the  man  that  asks  and  the  God  that  bestows. 
Poor  Martha  said,  '  I  know  that  even  now,  whatsoever 
Thou  askest  of  God  He  will  give  Thee.'  She  thought 
of  Him  as  a  good  Man  whose  prayers  had  power  with 
Heaven.  But  up  into  an  altogether  other  region  soars 
the  consciousness  expressed  in  these  words  as  of  a 
divine  Son  whose  work  is  wholly  parallel  with  the 
Father's  work,  and  of  whom  the  two  things  that 
sound  contradictory  can  both  be  said.  His  omnipo- 
tence is  His  own ;  His  omnipotence  is  the  Father's : 
•  As  the  Father  hath  life,'  and  therefore  power  in  Him- 
self, '  so  hath  He  given ' — there  is  the  one  half  of  the 
paradox — '  so  hath  He  given  to  the  Son  to  have  life  in 
Himself;  there  is  the  other.  And  unless  you  put  them 
both  together  you  do  not  think  of  Christ  as  Christ 
has  taught  us  to  think. 

III.  Lastly,  we  have  here  the  revelation  of  Christ  as 
our  Life  in  His  mighty,  life-giving  word. 

The  miracle,  as  I  have  said,  stands  high  in  the  scale, 
not  only  by  reason  of  what  to  us  seems  the  greatness 
of  the  fact,  though  of  course,  properly  speaking,  in 
miracles  there  is  no  distinction  as  to  the  greatness 
of  the  fact,  but  also  by  reason  of  the  manner  of  the 
working.  The  voice  thrown  into  the  cave  reaches  the 
ears  of  the  sheeted  dead  :  '  Lazarus,  come  forth ! '  And 
then,  in  words  which  convey  the  profound  impression 
of  awfulness  and  solemnity  which  had  been  made 
upon  the  Evangelist,  we  have  the  picture  of  the  man 
with  the  graveclothes  wrapped  about  his  limbs,  stum- 
bling forth ;  and  loving  hands  are  bidden  to  take  away 


vs.  43, 44]    THE  SEVENTH  MIRACLE         105 

the  napkin  which  covered  his  face.  Perhaps  the  hand 
trembled  as  it  was  put  forth,  not  knowing  what  awful 
sight  the  veil  might  cover. 

With  tenderest  reticence,  no  word  is  spoken  as  to 
what  followed.  No  hint  escapes  of  the  joy,  no  gleam 
of  the  experiences  which  the  traveller  brought  back 
with  him  from  that  '  bourne '  whence  he  had  come. 
Surely  some  draught  of  Lethe  must  have  been  given 
him,  that  his  spirit  might  be  lulled  into  a  wholesome 
forgetfulness,  else  life  must  have  been  a  torment  to 
him. 

But  be  that  as  it  may,  what  we  have  to  notice  is  the 
fact  here,  and  what  it  teaches  us  as  a  fact.  Is  it  not  a 
revelation  of  Jesus  Christ  as  the  absolute  Lord  of  Life 
and  Death,  giving  the  one,  putting  back  the  other? 
Death  has  caught  hold  of  his  prey.  '  Shall  the  prey 
be  taken  from  the  mighty,  and  the  lawful  captive 
delivered  ?  Yea,  the  prey  shall  be  taken  from  the 
mighty.'  His  bare  word  is  divinely  operative.  He  says 
to  that  grisly  shadow  '  Come ! '  and  he  cometh ;  He 
says  to  him  '  Go ! '  and  he  goeth.  And  as  a  shepherd 
will  drive  away  the  bear  that  has  a  lamb  between  his 
bloody  fangs,  and  the  brute  retreats,  snarling  and 
growling,  but  dropping  his  prey,  so  at  the  Lord's 
voice  Lazarus  comes  back  to  life,  and  disappointed 
Death  skulks  away  to  the  darkness. 

The  miracle  shows  Him  as  Lord  of  Death  and  Giver 
of  Life.  And  it  teaches  another  lesson,  namely,  the  con- 
tinuous persistency  of  the  bond  between  Christ  and  His 
friend,  unbroken  and  untouched  by  the  superficial 
accident  of  life  or  death.  Wheresoever  Lazarus  was 
he  heard  the  voice,  and  wheresoever  Lazarus  was  he 
knew  the  voice,  and  wheresoever  Lazarus  was  he 
obeyed  the  voice.    And    so   we   are  taught   that  the 


106  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.  xi. 

relationship  between  Christ  our  life,  and  all  them  that 
love  and  trust  Him,  is  one  on  which  the  tooth  of  death 
that  gnaws  all  other  bonds  in  twain  hath  no  power 
at  all.  Christ  is  the  Life,  and,  therefore,  Christ  is  the 
Resurrection,  and  the  thing  that  we  call  death  is  but  a 
film  which  spreads  on  the  surface,  but  has  no  power 
to  penetrate  into  the  depths  of  the  relationship  be- 
tween us  and  Him. 

Such,  in  briefest  words,  are  the  lessons  of  the  miracle 
as  a  fact,  but  before  I  close  I  must  remind  you  that  it 
is  to  be  looked  at  not  only  as  a  fact,  but  as  a  prophecy 
and  as  a  parable. 

It  is  a  prophecy  in  a  modified  sense,  telling  us  at 
all  events  that  He  has  the  power  to  bid  men  back 
from  the  dust  and  darkness,  and  giving  us  the  as- 
surance which  His  own  words  convey  to  us  yet  more 
distinctly :  '  The  hour  is  coming  when  all  that  are  in 
the  graves  shall  hear  His  voice  and  shall  come  forth.' 
My  brother !  there  be  two  resurrections  in  that  one 
promise :  the  resurrection  of  Christ's  friends  and  the 
resurrection  of  Christ's  foes.  And  though  to  both  His 
voice  will  be  the  awakening,  some  shall  rise  to  joy  and 
immortality  and  '  some  to  shame  and  everlasting  con- 
tempt.' You  will  hear  the  voice;  settle  it  for  your- 
selves whether  when  He  calls  and  thou  answerest  thou 
wilt  say,  '  Lo !  here  am  I,'  joyful  to  look  upon  Him ; 
or  whether  thou  wilt  rise  reluctant,  and  '  call  upon  the 
rocks  and  the  hills  to  cover  thee,  and  to  hide  thee  from 
the  face  of  Him  that  sitteth  upon  the  Throne.' 

And  this  raising  is  a  parable  as  well  as  a  prophecy ; 
for  even  as  Christ  was  the  life  of  this  Lazarus,  so,  in  a 
deeper  and  more  real  sense,  and  not  in  any  shadowy, 
metaphorical,  mystical  sense,  is  Jesus  Christ  the  life  of 
every  spirit  that  truly  lives  at  all.    We  are  '  dead  in 


vs.  43, 44]  CAIAPHAS  107 

trespasses  and  sins.'  For  separation  from  God  is  death 
in  all  regions,  death  for  the  body  in  its  kind,  death  for 
the  mind,  for  the  soul,  for  the  spirit  in  their  kinds ; 
and  only  they  who  receive  Christ  into  their  hearts  do 
live.  Every  Christian  man  is  a  miracle.  There  has  been 
a  true  coming  into  the  human  of  the  divine,  a  true 
supernatural  work,  the  infusion  into  a  dead  soul  of  the 
God-life  which  is  the  Christ-life. 

And  you  and  I  may  have  that  life.  What  is  the  con- 
dition? 'They  that  hear  shall  live.'  Do  you  hear? 
Do  you  welcome  ?  Do  you  take  that  Christ  into  your 
hearts  ?    Is  He  your  Life,  my  brother  ? 

It  is  possible  to  resist  that  voice,  to  stuff  your  ears 
so  full  of  clay,  and  worldliness,  and  sin,  and  self- 
reliance  as  that  it  shall  not  echo  in  your  hearts.  '  The 
hour  is  coming,  and  now  is,  when  the  dead  shall  hear 
the  voice  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and  they  that  hear  shall 
live,'  and  obtain  to-day  '  a  better  resurrection '  than  the 
resurrection  of  the  body.  If  you  do  not  hear  that 
voice,  then  you  will  'remain  in  the  congregation  of 
the  dead.' 


CAIAPHAS 

'  And  one  of  them,  named  Caiaphas,  being  the  high  priest  that  same  year,  said 
unto  them.  Ye  know  nothing  at  all,  nor  consider  that  it  is  expedient  for  ns, 
that  one  man  should  die  for  the  people,  and  that  the  whole  nation  perish  not.'— 
St.  John  xi.  49,  50. 

The  resurrection  of  Lazarus  had  raised  a  wave  of 
popular  excitement.  Any  stir  amongst  the  people  was 
dangerous,  especially  at  the  Passover  time,  which  was 
nigh  at  hand,  when  Jerusalem  would  be  filled  with 
crowds  of  men,  ready  to  take  fire  from  any  spark  that 
might  fall  amongst  them.  So  a  hasty  meeting  of  the 
principal  ecclesiastical  council  of  the  Jews  was  sum- 


108  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.xi. 

moned,  in  order  to  discuss  the  situation,  and  concert 
measures  for  repressing  the  nascent  enthusiasm.  One 
might  have  expected  to  find  there  some  disposition  to 
inquire  honestly  into  the  claims  of  a  Teacher  who  had 
such  a  witness  to  His  claims  as  a  man  alive  that  had 
been  dead.  But  nothing  of  the  sort  appears  in  their 
ignoble  calculations.  Like  all  weak  men,  they  feel 
that  •  something  must  be  done,'  and  are  perfectly 
unable  to  say  what.  They  admit  Christ's  miracles: 
'This  man  doeth  many  miracles,'  but  they  are  not  a 
bit  the  nearer  to  recognising  His  mission,  being  therein 
disobedient  to  their  law  and  untrue  to  their  office. 
They  fear  that  any  disturbance  will  bring  Rome's 
heavy  hand  down  on  them,  and  lead  to  the  loss  of 
what  national  life  they  still  possess.  But  even  that 
fear  is  not  patriotism  nor  religion.  It  is  pure  self- 
interest.  '  They  will  take  away  our  place' — the  Temple, 
probably — 'and  our  nation.'  The  holy  things  were, 
in  their  eyes,  their  special  property.  And  so,  at 
this  supreme  moment,  big  with  the  fate  of  them- 
selves and  of  their  nation,  their  whole  anxiety  is  about 
personal  interests.  They  hesitate,  and  are  at  a  loss 
what  to  do. 

But  however  they  may  hesitate,  there  is  one  man 
who  knows  his  own  mind — Caiaphas,  the  high  priest. 
He  has  no  doubt  as  to  what  is  the  right  thing  to  do. 
He  has  the  advantage  of  a  perfectly  clear  and  single 
purpose,  and  no  sort  of  restraint  of  conscience  or 
delicacy  keeps  him  from  speaking  it  out.  He  is  im- 
patient at  their  vacillation,  and  he  brushes  it  all  aside 
with  the  brusque  and  contemptuous  speech :  *  Ye  know 
nothing  at  all ! '  '  The  one  point  of  view  for  us  to  take 
is  that  of  our  own  interests.  Let  us  have  that  clearly 
understood ;  when  we  once  ask  what  is  "  expedient  for 


vs.  49, 50]  CAIAPHAS  109 

us,"  there  will  be  no  doubt  about  the  answer.  This  man 
must  die.  Never  mind  about  His  miracles,  or  His 
teaching,  or  the  beauty  of  His  character.  His  life 
is  a  perpetual  danger  to  our  prerogatives.  I  vote  for 
death!'  And  so  he  clashes  his  advice  down  into  the 
middle  of  their  waverings,  like  a  piece  of  iron  into 
yielding  water ;  and  the  strong  man,  restrained  by  no 
conscience,  and  speaking  out  cynically  the  thought  that 
is  floating  in  all  their  minds,  but  which  they  dare  not 
utter,  is  master  of  the  situation,  and  the  resolve  is 
taken.  '  From  that  day  forth '  they  determined  to  put 
Him  to  death. 

But  John  regards  this  selfish,  cruel  advice  as  a 
prophecy.  Caiaphas  spoke  wiser  things  than  he  knew. 
The  Divine  Spirit  breathed  in  strange  fashion  through 
even  such  lips  as  his,  and  moulded  his  savage  utterance 
into  such  a  form  as  that  it  became  a  fit  expression  for 
the  very  deepest  thought  about  the  nature  and  the 
power  of  Christ's  death.  He  did  indeed  die  for  that 
people — thinks  the  Evangelist — even  though  they  have 
rejected  Him,  and  the  dreaded  Romans  have  come  and 
taken  away  our  place  and  nation — but  His  death  had  a 
wider  purpose,  and  was  not  for  that  nation  only,  but 
that  also  '  He  should  gather  together  in  one  the  children 
of  God  that  are  scattered  abroad.' 

Let  us,  then,  take  these  two  aspects  of  the  man  and 
his  counsel:  the  unscrupulous  priest  and  his  savage 
advice;  the  unconscious  prophet  and  his  great  pre- 
diction. 

I.  First,  then,  let  us  take  the  former  point  of  view, 
and  think  of  this  unscrupulous  priest  and  his  savage 
advice.  *  It  is  expedient  for  us  that  one  man  die  for  the 
people,  and  that  the  whole  nation  perish  not.' 

Remember  who  he  was,  the  high  priest  of  the  nation, 


110  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.  xi. 

with  Aaron's  mitre  on  his  brow,  and  centuries  of  illus- 
trious traditions  embodied  in  his  person ;  set  by  his 
very  office  to  tend  the  sacred  flame  of  their  Messianic 
hopes,  and  with  pure  hands  and  heart  to  offer  sacrifice 
for  the  sins  of  the  people ;  the  head  and  crow^n  of  the 
national  religion,  in  whose  heart  justice  and  mercy 
should  have  found  a  sanctuary  if  they  had  fled  from  all 
others ;  whose  ears  ought  to  have  been  opened  to  the 
faintest  whisper  of  the  voice  of  God ;  whose  lips  should 
ever  have  been  ready  to  witness  for  the  truth. 

And  see  what  he  is  !  A  crafty  schemer,  as  blind  as  a 
mole  to  the  beauty  of  Christ's  character  and  the  great- 
ness of  His  words ;  utterly  unspiritual ;  undisguisedly 
selfish ;  rude  as  a  boor ;  cruel  as  a  cut- throat ;  and 
having  reached  that  supreme  height  of  wickedness  in 
which  he  can  dress  his  ugliest  thought  in  the  plainest 
words,  and  send  them  into  the  world  unabashed.  What 
a  lesson  this  speech  of  Caiaphas,  and  the  character 
disclosed  by  it,  read  to  all  persons  who  have  a  profes- 
sional connection  with  religion ! 

He  can  take  one  point  of  view  only,  in  regard  to  the 
mightiest  spiritual  revelation  that  the  world  ever  saw ; 
and  that  is,  its  bearing  upon  his  own  miserable  personal 
interests,  and  the  interests  of  the  order  to  which  he 
belongs.  And  so,  whatever  may  be  the  wisdom,  or 
miracles,  or  goodness  of  Jesus,  because  He  threatens 
the  prerogatives  of  the  priesthood.  He  must  die  and  be 
got  out  of  the  way. 

This  is  only  an  extreme  case  of  a  temper  and  a  tend- 
ency which  is  perennial.  Popes  and  inquisitors  and 
priests  of  all  Churches  have  done  the  same,  in  their 
degree,  in  all  ages.  They  have  always  been  tempted  to 
look  upon  religion  and  religious  truth  and  religious 
organisations  as  existing  somehow  for  their  personal 


vs.  49, 50]  CAIAPHAS  111 

advantage.  And  so  '  the  Church  is  in  danger !  *  gene- 
rally means  '  my  position  is  threatened,'  and  heretics  are 
got  rid  of,  because  their  teaching  is  inconvenient  for 
the  prerogatives  of  a  priesthood,  and  new  truth  is 
fought  against,  because  officials  do  not  see  how  it 
harmonises  with  their  pre-eminence. 

It  is  not  popes  and  priests  and  inquisitors  only  that 
are  examples  of  the  tendency.  The  warning  is  needed 
by  every  man  who  stands  in  such  a  position  as  mine, 
whose  business  it  is  professionally  to  handle  sacred 
things,  and  to  administer  Christian  institutions  and 
Christian  ritual.  All  such  men  are  tempted  to  look 
upon  the  truth  as  their  stock-in-trade,  and  to  fight 
against  innovations,  and  to  array  themselves  instinc- 
ti\ely  against  progress,  and  frown  down  new  aspects 
and  new^  teachers  of  truth,  simply  because  they  threaten, 
or  appear  to  threaten,  the  position  and  prerogatives  of 
the  teachers  that  be.  Caiaphas's  sin  is  possible,  and 
Caiaphas's  temptation  is  actual,  for  every  man  whose 
profession  it  is  to  handle  the  oracles  of  God. 

But  the  lessons  of  this  speech  and  character  are  for 
us  all.  Caiaphas's  sentence  is  an  undisguised,  unblush- 
ing avowal  of  a  purely  selfish  standpoint.  It  is  not  a 
common  depth  of  degradation  to  stand  up,  and  without 
a  blush  to  say:  'I  look  at  all  claims  of  revelation, 
at  all  professedly  spiritual  truth,  and  at  everything 
else,  from  one  delightfully  simple  point  of  view — I  ask 
myself,  how  does  it  bear  upon  what  I  think  to  be  to  my 
advantage  ? '  What  a  deal  of  perplexity  a  man  is  saved 
if  he  takes  up  that  position !  Yes !  and  how  he  has 
damned  himself  in  the  very  act  of  doing  it !  For,  look 
what  this  absorbing  and  exclusive  self-regard  does  in 
the  illustration  before  us,  and  let  us  learn  what  it  will 
do  to  ourselves. 


112  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.  xi. 

This  selfish  consideration  of  our  own  interests  will 
make  us  as  blind  as  bats  to  the  most  radiant  beauty 
of  truth ;  aye,  and  to  Christ  Himself,  if  the  recognition 
of  Him  and  of  His  message  seems  to  threaten  any  of 
these.  They  tell  us  that  fishes  which  live  in  the  water 
of  caverns  come  to  lose  their  eyesight ;  and  men  that 
are  always  living  in  the  dark  holes  of  their  own 
selfishly  absorbed  natures,  they,  too,  lose  their  spiritual 
sight ;  and  the  fairest,  loftiest,  truest,  and  most  radiant 
visions  (which  are  realities)  pass  before  their  eyes,  and 
they  see  them  not.  When  you  put  on  regard  for  your- 
selves as  they  do  blinkers  upon  horses,  you  have  no 
longer  the  power  of  wide,  comprehensive  vision,  but 
only  see  straiglit  forward  upon  the  narrow  line  which 
you  fancy  to  be  marked  out  by  your  own  interests.  If 
ever  there  comes  into  the  selfish  man's  mind  a  truth, 
or  an  aspect  of  Christ's  mission,  which  may  seem  to 
cut  against  some  of  his  practices  or  interests,  how 
blind  he  is  to  it!  When  Lord  Nelson  was  at  Copen- 
hagen, and  they  hoisted  the  signal  of  recall,  he  put 
his  telescope  up  to  his  blind  eye  and  said,  'I  do  not 
see  it!'  And  that  is  exactly  what  this  self-absorbed 
regard  to  our  own  interests  does  with  hundreds  of 
men  who  do  not  in  the  least  degree  know  it.  It  blinds 
them  to  the  plain  will  of  the  Commander-in-chief  flying 
there  at  the  masthead.  'There  are  none  so  blind  as 
those  who  will  not  see';  and  there  are  none  who  so 
certainly  will  not  see  as  those  who  have  an  uneasy 
suspicion  that  if  they  do  see  they  will  have  to  change 
their  tack.  So  I  say,  look  at  the  instance  before  us, 
and  learn  the  lesson  of  the  blindness  to  truth  and  beauty 
which  are  Christ  Himself,  which  comes  of  a  regard  to 
one's  own  interests. 

Then    again,    this    same    self-regard    may    bring   a 


vs.  49, 50]  CAIAPHAS  113 

man  down  to  any  kind  and  degree  of  wrongdoing. 
Caiaphas  was  brought  down  by  it,  being  the  supreme 
judge  of  his  nation,  to  be  an  assassin  and  an  accomplice 
of  murderers.  And  it  is  only  a  question  of  accident 
and  of  circumstances  how  far  that  man  will  descend 
who  once  yields  himself  up  to  the  guidance  of  such  a 
disposition  and  tendency.  We  have  all  of  us  to  fight 
against  the  developed  selfishness  which  takes  the  form 
of  this,  that,  and  the  other  sin  ;  and  we  have  all  of  us, 
if  we  are  wise,  to  fight  against  the  undeveloped  sin 
which  lies  in  all  selfishness.  Remember  that  if  you 
begin  with  laying  down  as  the  canon  of  your  con- 
duct, *  It  is  expedient  for  me,'  you  have  got  upon  an 
inclined  plane  that  tilts  at  a  very  sharp  angle,  and  is 
very  sufficiently  greased,  and  ends  away  down  yonder 
in  the  depths  of  darkness  and  of  death,  and  it  is  only 
a  question  of  time  how  far  and  how  fast,  how  deep 
and  irrevocable,  will  be  your  descent. 

And  lastly,  this  same  way  of  looking  at  things  which 
takes  'It  is  expedient'  as  the  determining  considera- 
tion, has  in  it  an  awful  power  of  so  twisting  and 
searing  a  man's  conscience  as  that  he  comes  to  look  at 
evil  and  never  to  know  that  there  is  anything  wrong 
in  it.  This  cynical  high  priest  in  our  text  had  no  con- 
ception that  he  was  doing  anything  but  obeying  the 
plainest  dictates  of  the  most  natural  self-preservation 
when  he  gave  his  opinion  that  they  had  better  kill 
Christ  than  have  any  danger  to  their  priesthood.  The 
crime  of  the  actual  crucifixion  was  diminished  because 
the  doers  were  so  unconscious  that  it  was  a  crime ;  but 
the  crime  of  the  process  by  which  they  had  come  to  be 
unconscious— Oh  how  that  was  increased  and  deepened ! 
So,  if  we  fix  our  eyes  sharply  and  exclusively  on  what 
makes  for  our  own  advantage,  and  take  that  as  the 
VOL.  II.  H 


114  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.  xi. 

point  of  view  from  which  we  determine  our  conduct, 
we  may,  and  we  shall,  bring  ourselves  into  such  a  con- 
dition as  that  our  consciences  will  cease  to  be  sensitive 
to  right  and  wrong ;  and  we  shall  do  all  manner  of  bad 
things,  and  never  know  it.  We  shall '  wipe  our  mouths 
and  say :  "  I  have  done  no  harm." '  So,  I  beseech  you, 
remember  this,  that  to  live  for  self  is  hell,  and  that 
the  only  antagonist  of  such  selfishness,  which  leads 
to  blindness,  crime,  and  a  seared  conscience,  is  to 
yield  ourselves  to  the  love  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ 
and  to  say:  'I  live,  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in 
me.' 

II.  And  now  turn  briefly  to  the  second  aspect  of  this 
saying,  into  which  the  former,  if  I  may  so  say,  melts 
away.  We  have  the  unconscious  prophet  and  his  great 
prediction. 

The  Evangelist  conceives  that  the  man  who  filled  the 
office  of  high  priest,  being  the  head  of  the  theocratic 
community,  was  naturally  the  medium  of  a  divine 
oracle.  When  he  says,  'being  the  high  priest  that 
year,  Caiaphas  prophesied,'  he  does  not  imply  that  the 
high  priestly  office  was  annual,  but  simply  desires  to 
mark  the  fateful  importance  of  that  year  for  the 
history  of  the  world  and  the  priesthood.  'In  that 
year '  the  great  '  High  Priest  for  ever '  came  and  stood 
for  a  moment  by  the  side  of  the  earthly  high  priest — 
the  Substance  by  the  shadow — and  by  His  offering  of 
Himself  as  the  one  Sacrifice  for  sin  for  ever,  deprived 
priesthood  and  sacrifice  henceforward  of  all  their 
validity.  So  that  Caiaphas  was  in  reality  the  last 
of  the  high  priests,  and  those  that  succeeded  him  for 
something  less  than  half  a  century  were  but  like 
ghosts  that  walked  after  cock-crow.  And  what  the 
Evangelist  would   mark  is  the    importance   of  'that 


vs.  49, 50]  CAIAPHAS  115 

year,'  as  making  Caiaphas  ever  memorable  to  us. 
Solemn  and  strange  that  the  long  line  of  Aaron's 
priesthood  ended  in  such  a  man — the  river  in  a  putrid 
morass — and  that  of  all  the  years  in  the  history  of  the 
nation, '  in  that  year '  should  such  a  person  fill  such  an 
office! 

♦Being  high  priest  he  prophesied.'  And  was  there 
anything  strange  in  a  bad  man's  prophesying?  Did 
not  the  Spirit  of  God  breathe  through  Balaam  of  old  ? 
Is  there  anything  incredible  in  a  man's  prophesying 
unconsciously  ?  Did  not  Pilate  do  so,  when  he  nailed 
over  the  Cross,  'This  is  the  King  of  the  Jews,'  and 
wrote  it  in  Hebrew,  and  in  Greek,  and  in  Latin,  con- 
ceiving himself  to  be  perpetrating  a  rude  jest,  while 
he  was  proclaiming  an  everlasting  truth  ?  When  the 
Pharisees  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross  and  taunted 
Him,  'He  saved  others.  Himself  He  cannot  save,'  did 
they  not,  too,  speak  deeper  things  than  they  knew? 
And  were  not  the  lips  of  this  unworthy,  selfish,  un- 
spiritual,  unscrupulous,  cruel  priest  so  used  as  that, 
all  unconsciously,  his  words  lent  themselves  to  the 
proclamation  of  the  glorious  central  truth  of  Chris- 
tianity, that  Christ  died  for  the  nation  that  slew  Him 
and  rejected  Him,  nor  for  them  alone,  but  for  all  the 
world?  Look,  though  but  for  a  moment,  at  the  thoughts 
that  come  from  this  new  view  of  the  words  which  we 
have  been  considering. 

They  suggest  to  us,  first  of  all,  the  twofold  aspect 
of  Christ's  death.  From  the  human  point  of  view  it 
was  a  savage  murder  by  forms  of  law  for  political 
ends :  Caiaphas  and  the  priests  slaying  Him  to  avoid 
a  popular  tumult  that  might  threaten  their  preroga- 
tives, Pilate  consenting  to  His  death  to  avoid  the 
unpopularity  that  might  follow  a  refusal.    From  the 


116  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.xi. 

divine  point  of  view  it  is  God's  great  sacrifice  for  the 
sin  of  the  world.  It  is  the  most  signal  instance  of 
that  solemn  law  of  Providence  which  runs  all  through 
the  history  of  the  world,  whereby  bad  men's  bad  deeds, 
strained  through  the  fine  network,  as  it  were,  of  the 
divine  providence,  lose  their  poison  and  become  nutri- 
tious and  fertilising.  '  Thou  makest  the  wrath  of  men 
to  praise  Thee ;  with  the  residue  thereof  Thou  girdest 
Thyself.'  The  greatest  crime  ever  done  in  the  world  is 
the  greatest  blessing  ever  given  to  the  world.  Man's 
sin  works  out  the  loftiest  divine  purpose,  even  as  the 
coral  insects  blindly  build  up  the  reef  that  keeps  back 
the  waters,  or  as  the  sea  in  its  wild,  impotent  rage,  seek- 
ing to  overwhelm  the  land,  only  throws  upon  the  beach 
a  barrier  that  confines  its  waves  and  curbs  their  fury. 

Then,  again,  this  second  aspect  of  the  counsel  of 
Caiaphas  suggests  for  us  the  twofold  consequences  of 
that  death  on  the  nation  itself.  This  Gospel  of  John 
was  probably  written  after  the  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem. By  the  time  that  our  Evangelist  penned  these 
words,  the  Romans  had  come  and  taken  away  their 
place  and  their  nation.  The  catastrophe  that  Caiaphas 
and  his  party  had,  by  their  short-sighted  policy,  tried 
to  prevent,  had  been  brought  about  by  the  very  deed 
itself.  For  Christ's  death  was  practically  the  reason  for 
the  destruction  of  the  Jewish  commonwealth.  When 
'  the  husbandmen  said,  Come  !  let  us  kill  Him,  and  seize 
on  the  inheritance,'  which  is  simply  putting  Caiaphas's 
counsel  into  other  language,  they  thereby  deprived 
themselves  of  the  inheritance.  And  so  Christ's  death  was 
the  destruction  and  not  the  salvation  of  the  nation. 

And  yet,  it  was  true  that  He  died  for  that  people,  for 
every  man  of  them,  for  Caiaphas  as  truly  as  for  John, 
for  Judas  as  truly  as  for  Peter,  for  all  the  Scribes  and 


vs.  49, 50]  CAIAPHAS  117 

the  Pharisees  that  mocked  round  His  Cross,  as  truly  as 
for  the  women  that  stood  silently  weeping  there.  He 
died  for  them  all,  and  John,  looking  back  upon  the 
destruction  of  his  nation,  can  yet  say,  '  He  died  for  that 
people.*  Yes !  and  just  because  He  did,  and  because 
they  rejected  Him,  His  death,  which  they  would  not  let 
be  their  salvation,  became  their  destruction  and  their 
ruin.  Oh !  brethren,  it  is  always  so  !  He  is  either  '  a 
savour  of  life  unto  life,  or  a  savour  of  death  unto 
death  ! '  *  Behold !  I  lay  in  Zion  for  a  foundation,  a  tried 
Stone.'  Build  upon  it  and  you  are  safe.  If  you  do  not 
build  upon  it,  that  Stone  becomes  '  a  stone  of  stumbling 
and  a  rock  of  offence.'  You  must  either  build  upon 
Christ  or  fall  over  Him ;  you  must  either  build  wpon 
Christ,  or  be  crushed  to  powder  under  Him.  Make 
your  choice !  The  twofold  effect  is  wrought  ever,  but  we 
can  choose  which  of  the  two  shall  be  wrought  upon  us. 

Lastly,  we  have  here  the  twofold  sphere  in  which  our 
Lord's  mighty  death  works  its  effects. 

I  have  already  said  that  this  Gospel  was  written  after 
the  fall  of  Jerusalem.  The  whole  tone  of  it  shows  that 
the  conception  of  the  Church  as  quite  separate  from 
Judaism  was  firmly  established.  The  narrower  national 
system  had  been  shivered,  and  from  out  of  the  dust  and 
hideous  ruin  of  its  crushing  fall  had  emerged  the  fairer 
reality  of  a  Church  as  wide  as  the  world.  The  Temple 
on  Zion — which  was  but  a  small  building  after  all — had 
been  burned  with  fire.  It  was  their  place,  as  Caiaphas 
called  it.  But  the  clearing  away  of  the  narrower  edifice 
had  revealed  the  rising  walls  of  the  great  temple,  the 
Christian  Church,  whose  roof  overarches  every  land, 
and  in  whose  courts  all  men  may  stand  and  praise  the 
Lord.  So  John,  in  his  home  in  Ephesus,  surrounded  by 
flourishing  churches  in  which  Jews  formed  a  small  and 


118  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN  [ch.xi. 

ever-decreasing  element,  recognised  how  far  the  dove 
with  the  olive-branch  in  its  mouth  flew,  and  how  cer- 
tainly that  nation  was  only  a  little  fragment  of  the 
many  for  whom  Christ  died. 

'The  children  of  God  that  were  scattered  abroad' 
were  all  to  be  united  round  that  Cross.  Yes  !  the  only 
thing  that  unites  men  together  is  their  common  relation 
to  a  Divine  Redeemer.  That  bond  is  deeper  than  all 
national  bonds,  than  all  blood-bonds,  than  community 
of  race,  than  family,  than  friendship,  than  social  ties, 
than  community  of  opinion,  than  community  of  pur- 
pose and  action.  It  is  destined  to  absorb  them  all.  All 
these  are  transitory  and  they  are  imperfect;  men 
wander  isolated  notwithstanding  them  all.  But  if  we 
are  knit  to  Christ,  we  are  knit  to  all  who  are  also  knit 
to  Him.  One  life  animates  all  the  limbs,  and  one  life's 
blood  circulates  through  all  the  veins.  '  So  also  is  Christ.' 
We  are  one  in  Him,  in  whom  all  the  body  fitly  joined 
together  maketh  increase,  and  in  whom  all  the  building 
fitly  framed  together  groweth.  If  we  have  yielded  to 
the  power  of  that  Cross  which  draws  us  to  itself,  we 
shall  have  been  more  utterly  alone,  in  our  penitence 
and  in  our  conscious  surrender  to  Christ,  than  ever  we 
were  before.  But  He  sets  the  solitary  in  families,  and 
that  solemn  experience  of  being  alone  with  our  Judge 
and  our  Saviour  will  be  followed  by  the  blessed  sense 
that  we  are  no  more  solitary,  but  '  fellow-citizens  with 
the  saints  and  of  the  household  of  God.' 

That  death  brings  men  into  the  family  of  God.  He 
will  'gather  into  one  the  scattered  children  of  God.' 
They  are  called  children  by  anticipation.  For  surely 
nothing  can  be  clearer  than  that  the  doctrine  of  all 
John's  writings  is  that  men  are  not  children  of  God  by 
virtue  of  their  humanity,  except  in  the  inferior  sense  of 


vs.  49, 50]      LOVE'S  PRODIGALITY  119 

being  made  by  Him,  and  in  His  image  as  creatures  with 
spirit  and  will,  but  become  children  of  God  through 
faith  in  the  Son  of  God,  which  brings  about  that  new 
birth,  whereby  we  become  partakers  of  the  Divine 
nature.  '  To  as  many  as  received  Him,  to  them  gave 
He  power  to  become  the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them  that 
believe  on  His  name.' 

So  I  beseech  you,  turn  yourselves  to  that  dear  Christ 
who  has  died  for  us  all,  for  us  each,  for  me  and  for 
thee,  and  put  your  confidence  in  His  great  sacrifice. 
You  will  find  that  you  pass  from  isolation  into  society, 
from  death  into  life,  from  the  death  of  selfishness  into 
the  life  of  God.  Listen  to  Him,  who  says:  'Other 
sheep  I  have  which  are  not  of  this  fold,  them  also  I 
must  bring,  and  they  shall  hear  My  voice :  and  there 
shall  be  one  flock '  because  there  is  '  one  Shepherd.' 


LOVE'S  PRODIGALITY  CENSURED  AND 
VINDICATED 

'  Then  Jesus,  six  days  before  the  passover,  came  to  Bethany,  where  Lazarus  was 
which  had  been  dead,  whom  He  raised  from  the  dead.  There  they  made  Him  a 
supper ;  and  Martha  served  :  but  Lazarus  was  one  of  them  that  sat  at  the  table 
with  Him.  Then  took  Mary  a  pound  of  ointment  of  spikenard,  very  costly,  and 
anointed  the  feet  of  Jesus,  and  wiped  His  feet  with  her  hair :  and  the  house  was 
filled  with  the  odour  of  the  ointment.  Then  saith  one  of  His  disciples,  Judas 
Iscariot,  Simon's  son,  which  should  betray  Him,  Why  was  not  this  ointment 
sold  for  three  hundred  pence,  and  given  to  the  poor  ?  This  he  said,  not  that  he 
cared  for  the  poor ;  but  because  he  was  a  thief,  and  had  the  bag,  and  bare  what 
was  put  therein.  Then  said  Jesus,  Let  her  alone  :  against  the  day  of  My  bury- 
ing hath  she  kept  this.  For  the  poor  always  ye  have  with  you  ;  but  Me  ye  have 
not  always.  Much  people  of  the  Jews  therefore  knew  that  He  was  there :  and 
they  came  not  for  Jesus'  sake  only,  but  that  they  might  see  Lazarus  also,  whom 
He  had  raised  from  the  dead.  But  the  chief  priests  consulted  that  they  might 
put  Lazarus  also  to  death ;  Because  that  by  reason  of  him  many  of  the  Jewa 
went  away,  and  believed  on  Jesus.'— John  xii.  1-11. 

Jesus  came  from  Jericho,  where  He  had  left  Zacchseus 
rejoicing  in  the  salvation  that  had  come  to  his  house, 
and  whence  Bartimseus,  rejoicing  in  His  new  power  of 


120  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xii. 

vision,  seems  to  have  followed  Him.  A  few  hours 
brought  Him  to  Bethany,  and  we  know  from  other 
Evangelists  what  a  tension  of  purpose  marked  Him, 
and  awed  the  disciples,  as  He  pressed  on  before  them  up 
the  rocky  way.  His  mind  was  full  of  the  struggle  and 
death  which  were  so  near.  The  modest  village  feast  in 
the  house  of  Simon  the  leper  comes  in  strangely  amid 
the  gathering  gloom ;  but,  no  doubt,  Jesus  accepted  it, 
as  He  did  everything,  and  entered  into  the  spirit  of  the 
hour.  He  would  not  pain  His  hosts  by  self-absorbed 
aloofness  at  the  table.  The  reason  for  the  feast  is 
obviously  the  raising  of  Lazarus,  as  is  suggested  by  his 
being  twice  mentioned  in  verses  1  and  2. 

Our  Lord  had  withdrawn  to  Ephraim  so  immediately 
after  the  miracle  that  the  opportunity  of  honouring 
Him  had  not  occurred.  It  was  a  brave  tribute  to  pay 
Him  in  the  face  of  the  Sanhedrim's  commandment  (ch. 
xi.  57).  This  incident  sets  in  sharpest  contrast  the  two 
figures  of  Mary,  the  type  of  love  which  delights  to  give 
its  best,  and  Judas,  the  type  of  selfishness  which  is  only 
eager  to  get ;  and  it  shows  us  Jesus  casting  His  shield 
over  the  uncalculating  giver,  and  putting  meaning  into 
her  deed. 

I.  In  Eastern  fashion,  the  guests  seem  to  have  all 
been  males,  no  doubt  the  magnates  of  the  village,  and 
Jesus  with  His  disciples.  The  former  would  have 
become  accustomed  to  seeing  Lazarus,  but  Christ's 
immediate  followers  would  gaze  curiously  on  him. 
And  how  he  would  gaze  on  Jesus,  whom  he  had  pro- 
bably not  seen  since  the  napkin  had  been  taken  from 
his  face.  The  two  sisters  were  true  to  their  respective 
characters.  The  bustling,  practical  Martha  had  perhaps 
not  very  fine  or  quickly  moved  emotions.  She  could 
not  say  graceful  things  to  their  benefactor,  and  pro- 


vs.  1-11]       LOVE'S  PRODIGALITY  121 

bably  she  did  not  care  to  sit  at  His  feet  and  drink  in  His 
teaching;  but  she  loved  Him  with  all  her  heart  all 
the  same,  and  showed  it  by  serving.  No  doubt,  she 
took  care  that  the  best  dishes  were  carried  to  Jesus 
first,  and,  no  doubt,  as  is  the  custom  in  those  lands, 
she  plied  Him  with  invitations  to  partake.  We 
do  Martha  less  than  justice  if  we  do  not  honour  her, 
and  recognise  that  her  kind  of  service  is  true  service. 
She  has  many  successors  among  Christ's  true  followers, 
who  cannot '  gush '  nor  rise  to  the  heights  of  His  loftiest 
teaching,  but  who  have  taken  Him  for  their  Lord,  and 
can,  at  any  rate,  do  humble,  practical  service  in  kitchen 
or  workshop.  Their  more  'intellectual'  or  poetically 
emotional  brethren  are  tempted  to  look  down  on  them, 
but  Jesus  is  as  ready  to  defend  Martha  against  Mary, 
if  she  depreciates  her,  as  He  is  to  vindicate  Mary's  right 
to  her  kind  of  expression  of  love,  if  Martha  should  seek 
to  force  her  own  kind  on  her  sister.  *  There  are  differ- 
ences of  ministries,  but  the  same  Lord.' 

Mary  was  one  of  the  unpractical  sort,  whom  Martha 
is  very  apt  to  consider  supremely  useless,  and  often  to 
lose  patience  with.  Could  she  not  find  something  use- 
ful to  do  in  all  the  bustle  of  the  feast?  Had  she  no 
hands  that  could  carry  a  dish,  and  no  common  sense 
that  could  help  things  on  ?  Apparently  not.  Every 
one  else  was  occupied,  and  how  should  she  show  the 
love  that  welled  up  in  her  heart  as  she  looked  at 
Lazarus  sitting  there  beside  Jesus?  She  had  one 
costly  possession,  the  pound  of  perfume.  Clearly  it 
was  her  own,  for  she  would  not  have  taken  it  if 
Lazarus  and  Mary  had  been  joint  owners.  So,  without 
thinking  of  anything  but  the  great  burden  of  love 
which  she  blessedly  bore,  she  '  poured  it  on  His  head ' 
(Mark)  and  on  His  feet,  which  the  fashion  of  reclining 


122  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xii. 

at  meals  made  accessible  to  her,  standing  behind  Him. 
True  love  is  profuse,  not  to  say  prodigal.  It  knows  no 
better  use  for  its  best  than  to  lavish  it  on  the  beloved, 
and  can  have  no  higher  joy  than  that.  It  does  not  stay 
to  calculate  utility  as  seen  by  colder  eyes.  It  has  even 
a  subtle  delight  in  the  very  absence  of  practical  results, 
for  the  expression  of  itself  is  the  purer  thereby.  A 
basin  of  water  and  a  towel  would  have  done  as  well  or 
better  for  washing  Christ's  feet,  but  not  for  relieving 
Mary's  full  heart.  Do  we  know  anything  of  that  omni- 
potent impulse  ?  Can  we  complacently  set  our  givings 
beside  Mary's  ? 

II.  Judas  is  the  foil  to  Mary.  His  sullen,  black 
selfishness,  stretching  out  hands  like  talons  in  eager- 
ness to  get,  makes  more  radiant,  and  is  itself  made 
darker  by,  her  shining  deed  of  love.  Goodness  always 
rouses  evil  to  self-assertion,  and  the  other  Evangelists 
connect  Mary's  action  with  Judas's  final  treachery  as 
part  of  its  impelling  cause.  They  also  show  that  his 
specious  objection,  by  its  apparent  common  sense  and 
charitableness,  found  assent  in  the  disciples.  Three 
hundred  pence'  worth  of  good  ointment  wasted  which 
might  have  helped  so  many  poor!  Yes,  and  how 
much  poorer  the  world  would  have  been  if  it  had 
not  had  this  story !  Mary  was  more  utilitarian  than 
her  censors.  She  served  the  highest  good  of  all 
generations  by  her  uncalculating  profusion,  by  which 
the  poor  have  gained  more  than  some  few  of  them 
might  have  lost. 

Judas's  criticism  is  still  repeated.  The  world  does 
not  understand  Christian  self-sacrifice,  for  ends  which 
seem  to  it  shadowy  as  compared  with  the  solid  realities 
of  helping  material  progress  or  satisfying  material 
wants.    A  hundred  critics,  who  do  not  do  much  for  the 


vs.  Ml]       LOVE'S  PRODIGALITY  123 

poor  themselves,  will  descant  on  the  v^aste  of  money 
in  religious  enterprises,  and  smile  condescendingly  at 
the  enthusiasts  who  are  so  unpractical.  But  love 
knows  its  own  meaning,  and  need  not  be  abashed  by 
the  censure  of  the  unloving. 

John  flashes  out  into  a  moment's  indignation  at  the 
greed  of  Judas,  which  was  masquerading  as  benevol- 
ence. His  scathing  laying  bare  of  Judas's  mean  and 
thievish  motive  is  no  mere  suspicion,  but  he  must  have 
known  instances  of  dishonesty.  When  a  man  has  gone 
so  far  in  selfish  greed  that  he  has  left  common  honesty 
behind  him,  no  wonder  if  the  sight  of  utterly  self- 
surrendering  love  looks  to  him  folly.  The  world  has 
no  instruments  by  which  it  can  measure  the  elevation 
of  the  godly  life.  Mary  would  not  be  Mary  if  Judas 
approved  of  her  or  understood  her. 

III.  Jesus  vindicates  the  act  of  His  censured  servant. 
His  words  fall  into  two  parts,  of  which  the  former  puts 
a  meaning  into  Mary's  act,  of  which  she  probably  had 
not  been  aware,  while  the  latter  meets  the  carping 
criticism  of  Judas.  That  Jesus  should  see  in  the 
anointing  a  reference  to  His  burying,  pathetically 
indicates  how  that  near  end  filled  His  thoughts,  even 
while  sharing  in  the  simple  feast.  The  clear  vision  of 
the  Cross  so  close  did  not  so  absorb  Him  as  to  make 
Him  indifferent  either  to  Mary's  love  or  to  the  villagers' 
humble  festivity.  However  weighed  upon.  His  heart 
was  always  sufficiently  at  leisure  from  itself  to  care  for 
His  friends  and  to  defend  them.  He  accepts  every 
offering  that  love  brings,  and,  in  accepting,  gives  it  a 
significance  beyond  the  offerer's  thought.  We  know 
not  what  use  He  may  make  of  our  poor  service;  but 
we  may  be  sure  that,  if  that  which  we  can  see  to  is 
right— namely,  its  motive,— He  will  take  care  of  what 


124  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xii. 

we  cannot  see  to — namely,  its  effect, — and  will  find 
noble  use  for  the  sacrifices  which  unloving  critics 
pronounce  useless  waste. 

'  The  poor  always  ye  have  with  you.'  Opportunities 
for  the  exercise  of  brotherly  liberality  are  ever  present, 
and  therefore  the  obligation  to  it  is  constant.  But 
these  permanent  duties  do  not  preclude  the  oppor- 
tunities for  such  special  forms  of  expressing  special 
love  to  Jesus  as  Mary  had  shown,  and  as  must  soon 
end.  The  same  sense  of  approaching  separation  as  in 
the  former  clause  gives  pathos  to  that  restrained  *  not 
always.'  The  fact  of  His  being  just  about  to  leave  them 
warranted  extraordinary  tokens  of  love,  as  all  loving 
hearts  know  but  too  well.  But,  over  and  above  the 
immediate  reference  of  the  words,  they  carry  the  wider 
lesson  that,  besides  the  customary  duties  of  generous 
giving  laid  on  us  by  the  presence  of  ordinary  poverty 
and  distresses,  there  is  room  in  Christian  experience 
for  extraordinary  outflows  from  the  fountain  of  a  heart 
filled  with  love  to  Christ.  The  world  may  mock  at  it 
as  useless  prodigality,  but  Jesus  sees  that  it  is  done 
for  Him,  and  therefore  He  accepts  it,  and  breathes 
meaning  into  it. 

*  Wheresoever  this  gospel  shall  be  preached  in  the 
whole  world,  there  shall  also  this,  that  this  woman 
hath  done,  be  told  for  a  memorial  of  her.*  The 
Evangelist  who  records  that  promise  does  not  mention 
Mary's  name  ;  John,  who  does  mention  the  name,  does 
not  record  the  promise.  It  matters  little  whether  our 
names  are  remembered,  so  long  as  Jesus  bears  them 
graven  on  His  heart. 


A  NEW  KIND  OF  KING 

'  On  the  next  day  much  people  that  were  come  to  the  feast,  when  they  heard 
that  Jesus  was  coming  to  Jerusalem,  Took  branches  of  palm-trees,  and  went 
forth  to  meet  Him,  and  cried,  Hosanna :  Blessed  is  the  King  of  Israel  that  cometh 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  And  Jesus,  when  He  had  found  a  young  ass,  sat 
thereon :  as  it  is  written.  Fear  not,  daughter  of  Sion :  behold,  thy  King 
Cometh,  sitting  on  an  ass's  colt.  These  things  understood  not  His  disciples 
at  the  first :  but  when  Jesus  was  glorified,  then  remembered  they  that  these 
things  were  written  of  Him,  and  that  they  had  done  these  things  unto  Him. 
The  people  therefore  that  was  with  Him  when  He  called  Lazarus  out  of  his  grave, 
and  raised  him  from  the  dead,  bare  record.  For  this  cause  the  people  also  met 
Him,  for  that  they  heard  that  He  had  done  this  miracle.  The  Pharisees  there- 
fore said  among  themselves,  Perceive  ye  how  ye  prevail  nothing?  behold,  the 
world  is  gone  after  Him.  And  there  were  certain  Greeks  among  them  that 
came  up  to  worship  at  the  feast :  The  same  came  therefore  to  Philip,  which 
was  of  Bethsaida  of  Galilee,  and  desired  him,  saying.  Sir,  we  would  see  Jesus. 
Philip  cometh  and  teUeth  Andrew :  and  again  Andrew  and  Philip  tell  Jesus, 
And  Jesus  answered  them,  saying,  The  hour  is  come,  that  the  Son  of  Man  should 
be  glorified.  VerUy,  verily,  I  say  unto  yon.  Except  a  corn  of  wheat  fall  into 
the  ground  and  die,  it  abideth  alone :  but  if  it  die,  it  bringeth  forth  much  fruit. 
He  that  loveth  his  life  shall  lose  it ;  and  he  that  hateth  his  life  in  this  world 
shall  keep  it  unto  life  eternal.  If  any  man  serve  Me,  let  him  follow  Me ;  and 
where  I  am,  there  shall  also  My  servant  be  :  if  any  man  serve  Me,  him  will  My 
Father  honour.'— John  xii.  12-26. 

The  difference  between  John's  account  of  the  entry 
into  Jerusalem  and  those  of  the  Synoptic  Gospels  is 
very  characteristic.  His  is  much  briefer,  but  it  brings 
the  essentials  out  clearly,  and  is  particular  in  showing 
its  place  as  a  link  in  the  chain  that  drew  on  the  final 
catastrophe,  and  in  noting  its  effect  on  various  classes. 
'  The  next  day '  in  verse  12  was  proba-bly  the  Sunday 
before  the  crucifixion.  To  understand  the  events  of 
that  day  we  must  try  to  realise  how  rapidly,  and,  as 
the  rulers  thought,  dangerously,  excitement  was  rising 
among  the  crowds  who  had  come  up  for  the  Passover, 
and  who  had  heard  of  the  raising  of  Lazarus.  The 
Passover  was  always  a  time  when  national  feeling  was 
ready  to  blaze  up,  and  any  spark  might  light  the  fire. 
It  looked  as  if  Lazarus  were  going  to  be  the  match  this 
time,  and  so,  on  the  Saturday,  the  rulers  had  made  up 
their  minds  to  have  him  put  out  of  the  way  in  order  to 

125 


126  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN         [ch.  xii. 

stop  the  current  that  was  setting  in,  of  acceptance  of 
Jesus  as  the  Messiah. 

They  had  already  made  up  their  minds  to  dispose  of 
Jesus,  and  now,  with  cynical  contempt  for  justice,  they 
determined  to  'put  Lazarus  also  to  death.'  So  there 
were  to  be  two  men  who  were  to  '  die  for  the  people.' 
Keeping  all  this  wave  of  popular  feeling  in  view,  it 
might  have  been  expected  that  Jesus  would,  as  hitherto, 
have  escaped  into  privacy,  or  discouraged  the  offered 
homage  of  a  crowd  whose  Messianic  ideal  was  so 
different  from  His. 

John  is  mainly  concerned  in  bringing  out  two  points 
in  his  version  of  the  incident.  First,  he  tells  us  what 
we  should  not  have  gathered  from  the  other  Evange- 
lists, that  the  triumphal  procession  began  in  Jerusalem, 
not  in  Bethany.  It  was  the  direct  result  of  the  ebul- 
lition of  enthusiasm  occasioned  by  the  raising  of 
Lazarus.  The  course  of  events  seems  to  have  been 
that  '  the  common  people  of  the  Jews '  came  streaming 
out  to  Bethany  on  the  Sunday  to  gape  and  gaze  at  the 
risen  man  and  Him  who  had  raised  him,  that  they  and 
some  of  those  who  had  been  present  at  the  raising 
went  back  to  the  city  and  carried  thither  the  intelligence 
that  Jesus  was  coming  in  from  Bethany  next  day,  and 
that  then  the  procession  to  meet  Him  was  organised. 

The  meaning  of  the  popular  demonstration  was 
plain,  both  from  the  palm  branches,  signs  of  victory 
and  rejoicing,  and  from  the  chant,  which  is  in  part 
taken  from  Psalm  cxviii.  The  Messianic  application  of 
that  quotation  is  made  unmistakable  by  the  addition, 
'even  the  King  of  Israel.'  In  the  Psalm,  'he  that 
Cometh  in  the  name  of  Jehovah,'  means  the  worshipper 
drawing  near  to  the  Temple,  but  the  added  words 
divert  the  expression  to  Jesus,  hail  Him  as  the  King, 


vs.  12-26]     A  NEW  KIND  OF  KING  127 

and  invoke  Him  as  'Saviour.'  Little  did  that  shout- 
ing crowd  understand  what  sort  of  a  Saviour  He  was. 
Deliverance  from  Rome  was  what  they  were  think- 
ing of. 

We  must  remember  what  gross,  unspiritual  notions 
of  the  Messiah  they  had,  and  then  we  are  prepared 
to  feel  how  strangely  unlike  His  whole  past  conduct 
Jesus'  action  now  was.  He  had  shrunk  from  crowds 
and  their  impure  enthusiasm;  He  had  slipped  away 
into  solitude  when  they  wished  to  come  by  force  to 
make  Him  a  King,  and  had  in  every  possible  way 
sought  to  avoid  publicity  and  the  rousing  of  popular 
excitement.  Now  He  deliberately  sets  Himself  to  in- 
tensify it.  His  choice  of  an  ass  on  which  to  ride  into 
Jerusalem  was,  and  would  be  seen  by  many  to  be,  a 
plain  appropriation  to  Himself  of  a  very  distinct 
Messianic  prophecy,  and  must  have  raised  the  heat  of 
the  crowd  by  many  degrees.  One  can  fancy  the  roar 
of  acclaim  which  hailed  Him  when  He  met  the  multi- 
tude, and  the  wild  emotion  with  which  they  strewed 
His  path  with  garments  hastily  drawn  off  and  cast 
before  Him. 

Why  did  He  thus  contradict  all  His  past,  and  court 
the  smoky  enthusiasm  which  He  had  hitherto  damped  ? 
Because  He  knew  that  '  His  hour '  had  come,  and  that 
the  Cross  was  at  hand,  and  He  desired  to  bring  it  as 
speedily  as  might  be,  and  thus  to  shorten  the  suffering 
that  He  would  not  avoid,  and  to  finish  the  work 
which  He  was  eager  to  complete.  The  impatience,  as 
we  might  almost  call  it,  which  had  marked  Him  on 
all  that  last  journey,  reached  its  height  now,  and  may 
indicate  to  us  for  our  sympathy  and  gratitude  both 
His  human  longing  to  get  the  dark  hour  over  and  His 
fixed  willingness  to  die  for  us. 


128  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN         [oh.xil 

But  even  while  Jesus  accepted  the  acclamations  and 
deliberately  set  Himself  to  stir  up  enthusiasm,  He 
sought  to  purify  the  gross  ideas  of  the  crowd.  What 
more  striking  way  could  He  have  chosen  of  declaring 
that  all  the  turbulent  passions  and  eagerness  for  a 
foot-to-foot  conflict  with  Rome  which  were  boiling 
in  their  breasts  were  alien  to  His  purposes  and  to  the 
true  Messianic  ideal,  than  that  choosing  of  the  meek, 
slow-pacing  ass  to  bear  Him?  A  conquering  king 
would  have  made  his  triumphal  entry  in  a  chariot 
or  on  a  battle-horse.  This  strange  type  of  monarch 
is  throned  on  an  .ass.  It  was  not  only  for  a  verbal 
fulfilment  of  the  prophecy,  but  for  a  demonstration 
of  the  essential  nature  of  His  kingdom,  that  He  thus 
entered  the  city. 

John  characteristically  takes  note  of  the  effects  of 
the  entry  on  two  classes,  the  disciples  and  the  rulers. 
The  former  remembered  with  a  sudden  flash  of  en- 
lightenment the  meaning  of  the  entry  when  the  Cross 
and  the  Resurrection  had  taught  them  it.  The  rulers 
marked  the  popular  feeling  running  high  with  be- 
wilderment, and  were,  as  Jesus  meant  them  to  be, 
made  more  determined  to  take  vigorous  measures  to 
stop  this  madness  of  the  mob. 

The  second  incident  in  this  passage  contrasts  re- 
markably with  the  first,  and  yet  is,  in  one  aspect,  a 
continuation  of  it.  In  the  former,  Jesus  brought  into 
prominence  the  true  nature  of  His  rule  by  His  choosing 
the  ass  to  carry  Him,  so  declaring  that  His  dominion 
rested,  not  on  conquest,  but  on  meekness.  In  the 
latter.  He  reveals  a  yet  deeper  aspect  of  His  work,  and 
teaches  that  His  influence  over  men  is  won  by  utter  self- 
sacrifice,  and  that  His  subjects  must  tread  the  same  path 
of  losing  their  lives  by  which  He  passes  to  His  glory, 


vs.  12-26]     A  NEW  KINi?  OF  KING  129 

The  details  of  the  incident  ar  \  of  small  importance 
as  compared  with  that  great  an^!  solemn  lesson;  but 
we  may  note  them  in  a  few  words.  The  desire  of  a 
few  Greeks  to  see  Him  was  probably  only  a  reflection 
of  the  popular  enthusiasm,  and  7as  prompted  mainly 
by  curiosity  and  the  characteris  ic  Greek  eagerness  to 
see  any  '  new  thing.'  The  addi  assing  of  the  request 
to  Philip  is  perhaps  explainCvl  by  the  fact  that  he 
'  was  of  Bethsaida  of  Galilee,'  am^  had  probably  come 
into  contact  with  these  Greeks  'n  the  neighbouring 
Decapolis,  on  the  other  side  of  the  lake.  Philip's 
consultation  of  his  fellow-townsman,  Andrew,  who  is 
associated  with  him  in  other  places,  probably  implies 
hesitation  in  granting  so  unprecedented  a  request. 
They  did  not  know  what  Jesus  might  say  to  it.  And 
what  He  did  say  was  very  unlike  anything  that  they 
could  have  anticipated. 

The  trivial  request  was  as  a  narrow  window  through 
which  Jesus'  yearning  spirit  saw  a  great  expanse — 
nothing  less  than  the  coming  to  Him  of  myriads  of 
Gentiles,-  the  'much  fruit'  of  which  He  immediately 
speaks,  the  '  other  sheep '  whom  He  '  must  bring.'  The 
thought  must  have  been  ever  present  to  Him,  or  it 
would  never  have  leaped  to  utterance  on  such  an 
occasion.  The  little  window  shows  us,  too,  what  was 
habitually  in  His  inind  and  heart.  He,  as  it  were, 
hears  the  striking  of  the  hour  of  His  glorification ;  in 
which  expression  the  ideas  of  His  being  glorified  by 
drawing  men  to  the  knowledge  of  His  love,  and  of 
the  Cross  being  not  the  lowest  depth  of  His  humilia- 
tion, but  the  highest  apex  of  His  glory  —  as  it  is 
always  represented  iji  this  Gospel — seemed  to  be  fused 
together. 

The  seed  must  die  if  a  harvest  is  to  spring  from  it. 

VOL.  II.  I 


130  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN         [ch.  xii. 

That  is  the  law  for  ?  ;1  moral  and  spiritual  reforma- 
tions. Every  cause  .  /lust  have  its  martyrs.  No  man 
can  be  fruit-bearing  unless  he  sacrifices  himself.  We 
shall  not  'quicken'  our  fellows  unless  w^e  'die,'  either 
literally  or  by  the  n  )t  less  real  martyrdom  of  rigid 
self-crucifixion  and  suj  pression. 

But  that  necessity  is  not  only  for  Apostles  or 
missionaries  of  great  causes ;  it  is  the  condition  of  all 
true,  noble  life,  and  prescribes  the  path  not  only  for 
those  who  would  live  for  others,  but  for  all  who  wouM 
truly  live  their  o  vn  lives.  Self-renunciation  guards 
the  way  to  the  '  tre  3  of  life.'  That  lesson  was  specially 
needed  by  '  Greeks,'  for  ignorance  of  it  was  the  worm 
that  gnawed  the  blossoms  of  their  trees,  whether  of  art 
or  of  literature.  It  is  no  less  needed  by  our  sensuously 
luxurious  and  eagerly  acquisitive  generation.  The 
world's  war-cries  to-day  are  two — 'Get!'  'Enjoy!' 
Christ's  command  is,  '  Renounce  ! '  And  in  renouncing 
we  shall  realise  both  of  these  other  aims,  which  they 
who  pursue  them  only,  never  attain. 

Christ's  servant  must  be  Christ's  follower:  indeed 
service  is  following.  The  Cross  has  aspects  in  which 
it  stands  alone,  and  is  incapable  of  being  reproduced 
and  makes  all  repetition  needless.  But  it  has  also 
an  aspect  in  which  it  not  only  Tnay,  but  must,  be  re- 
produced in  every  disciple.  And  he  who  takes  it  for 
the  ground  of  his  trust  only,  and  not  as  the  pattern 
of  his  life,  has  need  to  ask  himself  whether  his  trust 
in  it  is  genuine  or  worth  anything.  Of  course  they 
who  follow  a  leader  will  arrive  where  the  leader  has 
gone,  and  though  our  feet  are  feeble  and  our  progress 
devious  and  slow,  we  have  here  His  promise  that  we 
shall  not  be  lost  in  the  desert,  but,  sustained  by  Him, 
will  reach  His  side,  and  at  last  be  where  He  is- 


AFTER  CHRIST:   WITH  CHRIST 

'  If  any  man  serve  Me,  let  him  follow  Me ;  and  where  I  am,  there  shall  also  My 
servant  be.'— John  xii.  26. 

Our  Lord  was  strangely  moved  by  the  apparently 
trivial  incident  of  certain  Greeks  desiring  to  see  Him. 
He  recognised  and  hailed  in  them  the  first-fruits  of 
the  Gentiles.  The  Eastern  sages  at  His  cradle,  and 
these  representatives  of  Western  culture  within  a  few 
hours  of  the  Cross,  were  alike  prophets.  So,  in  His 
answer  to  their  request,  our  Lord  passes  beyond  the 
immediate  bearing  of  the  request,  and  contemplates 
it  in  its  relation  to  the  future  developments  of  His 
work.  And  the  thought  that  the  Son  of  Man  is  now 
about  to  begin  to  be  glorified,  at  once  brings  Him 
face  to  face  with  the  fact  which  must  precede  the 
glory,  viz..  His  death. 

That  great  law  that  a  higher  life  can  only  be  reached 
by  the  decay  of  the  lower,  of  which  the  Cross  is  the 
great  instance,  He  illustrates,  first,  by  an  example  from 
Nature,  the  corn  of  wheat  which  must  die  ere  it  brings 
forth  fruit.  Then  He  declares  that  this  is  a  universal 
law,  'He  that  loveth  his  life  shall  lose  it;  and  he  that 
hateth  his  life  in  this  world  shall  keep  it  unto  life 
eternal.'  And  then  He  declares  that  this  universal 
law,  which  has  its  adumbration  in  Nature,  and  applies 
to  all  mankind,  and  is  manifested  in  its  highest  form 
on  the  Cross,  is  the  law  of  the  Christian  discipleship. 
'If  any  man  serve  Me,  let  him  follow  Me,'  and,  as 
a  consequence,  'where  I  am,  there  shall  also  My 
servant  be.' 

In  two  clauses  He  covers  the  whole  ground  of  the 
present  and  the  future.    Many  thinkers  and  teachers 

isi 


182  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xii. 

have  tried  to  crystallise  their  systems  into  some  brief 
formula  which  may  stick  in  the  memory  and  be  capable 
of  a  handy  application.  '  Follow  Nature,'  said  ancient 
sages,  attaching  a  nobler  meaning  to  the  condensed 
commandment  than  its  modern  repeaters  often  do ; 
'Follow  duty,'  say  others;  'Follow  Me,'  says  Christ. 
That  is  enough  for  life.  And  for  all  the  dim  regions 
beyond,  this  prospect  is  sufficient,  '  Where  I  am,  there 
shall  also  My  servant  be.'  One  Form  towers  above  the 
present  and  the  future,  and  they  both  derive  their 
colouring  and  their  worth  from  Him  and  our  relation 
to  Him.  '  To  follow ' — that  is  the  condensed  summary 
of  life's  duty.  'To  be  with' — that  is  the  crystallising 
of  all  our  hopes. 

I.  The  all-sufficient  law  for  life. 

'If  any  man  serve  Me,  let  him  follow  Me.'  Every- 
thing is  smelted  down  into  that;  and  there  you  have 
a  sufficient  directory  for  every  man's  every  action. 

Now  although  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  my  present 
purpose,  I  can  scarcely  avoid  pausing,  just  for  a 
moment,  to  ask  you  to  consider  the  perfect  uniqueness 
of  such  an  utterance  as  that.  Think  of  one  Man 
standing  up  before  all  mankind,  and  coolly  and  de- 
liberately saying  to  them,  '  I  am  the  realised  Ideal  of 
human  conduct;  I  am  Incarnate  Perfection;  and  all 
of  you,  in  all  the  infinite  variety  of  condition,  culture, 
and  character,  are  to  take  Me  for  your  pattern  and 
your  guide.'  The  world  has  listened,  and  the  world  has 
not  laughed  nor  been  angry.  Neither  indignation  nor 
mockery,  which  one  might  have  expected  would  have 
extinguished  such  absurdity,  has  waited  upon  Christ's 
utterance.  I  have  no  time  to  dwell  on  this ;  it  is 
apart  from  my  purpose,  but  I  would  ask  you  fairly 
to  consider  how  strange  it  is,  and  to  ask  how  it  is  to 


V.  26]  AFTER  CHRIST :  WITH  CHRIST    133 

be  accounted  for,  that  a  Man  said  that,  and  that  the 
wisest  part  of  the  world  has  consented  to  take  Him 
at  His  own  valuation ;  and  after  such  an  utterance  as 
that,  yet  calls  Him  '  meek  and  lowly  of  heart.' 

But  I  pass  away  from  that.  What  does  He  mean 
by  this  commandment,  '  Follow  Me '  ?  Of  course  I  need 
not  remind  you  that  it  brings  all  duty  down  to  the 
imitation  of  Jesus  Christ.  That  is  a  commonplace 
that  I  do  not  need  to  dwell  upon,  nor  to  follow  out 
into  the  many  regions  into  which  it  would  lead  us, 
and  where  we  might  find  fruitful  subjects  of  contem- 
plation; because  I  desire,  in  a  sentence  or  two,  to 
insist  upon  the  special  form  of  following  which  is  here 
enjoined.  It  is  a  very  grand  thing  to  talk  about  the 
imitation  of  Christ,  and  even  in  its  most  superficial 
acceptation  it  is  a  good  guide  for  all  men.  But  no 
man  has  penetrated  to  the  depths  of  that  stringent 
and  all-comprehensive  commandment  who  has  not 
recognised  that  there  is  one  special  thing  in  which 
Christ  is  to  be  our  Pattern,  and  that  is  in  regard  to 
the  very  thing  in  which  we  think  that  He  is  most 
unique  and  inimitable.  It  is  His  Cross,  and  not  His 
life ;  it  is  His  death,  and  not  His  virtues,  which  He  is 
here  thinking  about,  and  laying  it  upon  all  of  us  as 
the  encyclopaedia  and  sum  of  all  morality  that  we 
should  be  conformed  to  it.  I  have  already  pointed  out 
to  you  in  my  introductory  remarks  the  force  of  the 
present  context.  And  so  I  need  not  further  enlarge 
upon  that,  nor  vindicate  my  declaration  that  Christ's 
death  is  the  pattern  which  is  here  set  before  us.  Of 
course  we  cannot  imitate  that  in  its  effects,  except 
in  a  very  secondary  and  figurative  fashion.  But  the 
spirit  that  underlay  it,  as  the  supreme  Example  of  self- 
sacrifice,  is  commended  to  us  all  as  the  royal  law  for 


134  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xii. 

our  lives,  and  unless  we  are  conformed  thereto  we 
have  no  right  to  call  ourselves  Christ's  disciples.  To 
die  for  the  sake  of  higher  life,  to  give  up  our  own 
will  utterly  in  obedience  to  God,  and  in  the  unselfish 
desire  to  help  and  bless  others,  that  is  the  Alpha 
and  the  Omega  of  discipleship.  It  always  has  been  so 
and  always  will  be  so.  And  so,  dear  brethren,  let  us  lay 
it  to  our  own  hearts,  and  make  very  stringent  inquiry 
into  our  own  conduct,  whether  we  have  ever  come 
within  sight  of  what  makes  a  true  disciple — viz.,  that 
we  should  be  '  conformable  unto  His  death.' 

Now  our  modern  theology  has  far  too  much  obscured 
this  plain  teaching  of  the  New  Testament,  because  it 
has  been  concerned — I  do  not  say  too  much,  but  too 
exclusively,  concerned — in  setting  forth  the  other  aspect 
of  Christ's  death,  by  which  it  is  what  none  of  ours 
can  ever  even  begin  to  be,  the  sacrifice  for  a  world's 
sin.  But,  mind,  there  are  two  ways  of  looking  at 
Christ's  Cross.  You  must  begin  with  recognising  it 
as  the  basis  of  all  your  hope,  the  power  by  which 
you  are  delivered  from  sin  as  guilt,  habit,  and  con- 
demnation. And  then  you  must  take  it,  if  it  is  to  be 
the  sacrifice  and  atonement  for  your  sins,  for  the 
example  of  your  lives,  and  mould  yourselves  after  it. 
'  If  any  man  serve  Me,  let  him  follow  Me,'  and  here 
is  the  special  region  in  which  the  following  is  to  be 
realised :  '  He  that  loveth  his  life  shall  lose  it,  and  he 
that  hateth  his  life  shall  keep  it  unto  life  eternal.' 

Now,  further,  let  me  remind  you  that  this  brief, 
crystallised  commandment,  the  essence  of  all  practical 
godliness  and  Christianity,  makes  the  blessed  peculiarity 
of  Christian  morality.  People  ask  what  it  is  that  dis- 
tinguishes the  teaching  of  the  New  Testament  in  regard 
to  duty,  from  the  teaching  of  lofty  moralists  and  sages 


V.26]  AFTER  CHRIST:  WITH  CHRIST    135 

of  old.  Not  the  specific  precepts,  though  these  are,  in 
many  cases,  deeper.  Not  the  individual  command- 
ments, though  the  perspective  of  human  excellences 
and  virtues  has  been  changed  in  Christianity,  and  the 
gentler  and  sweeter  graces  have  been  enthroned  in 
the  place  vv^here  the  world's  morality  has  generally 
set  the  more  ostentatious  ones;  the  hero  is,  roughly 
speaking,  the  world's  type,  the  saint  is  the  New  Testa- 
ment's. But  the  true  characteristic  of  Christian  teach- 
ing as  to  conduct  lies  in  this,  that  the  law  is  in  a 
Person,  and  that  the  power  to  obey  the  law  comes 
from  the  love  of  the  Person.  All  things  are  different ; 
unwelcome  duties  are  made  less  repulsive,  and  hard 
tasks  are  lightened,  and  sorrows  are  made  tolerable, 
if  only  we  are  following  Him.  You  remember  the 
old  story  in  Scottish  history  of  the  knight  to  whom 
was  entrusted  the  king's  heart ;  how,  beset  by  the  bands 
of  the  infidels,  he  tossed  the  golden  casket  into  the 
thickest  of  their  ranks  and  said,  '  Go  on,  I  follow  thee ' ; 
and  death  itself  was  light  when  that  thought  spurred 
his  steed  forward. 

And  so,  brethren,  it  is  far  too  hard  a  task  to  tread 
the  road  of  duty  which  our  consciences  command  us, 
unless  we  are  drawn  by  Him  Who  is  before  us  there  on 
the  road,  and  see  the  shining  of  His  garments  as  He 
sets  His  face  forward,  and  draws  us  after  Him.  It  is 
easy  to  climb  a  glacier  when  the  guide  has  cut  with  his 
ice-axe  the  steps  in  which  he  sets  his  feet,  and  we  may 
set  ours.  The  sternness  of  duty,  and  the  rigidity  of  law, 
and  the  coldness  of  'I  ought,'  are  all  changed  when 
duty  consists  in  following  Christ,  and  He  is  before  us 
on  the  rocky  and  narrow  road. 

This  precept  is  all-sufficient.  Of  course  it  will  be  a 
task  of  wisdom,  of  common  sense,  of  daily  culture  in 


136  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xii. 

prudence  and  other  graces ;  to  apply  the  generaKsed 
precept  to  the  specific  cases  that  emerge  in  our  lives. 
But  whilst  the  application  may  require  a  great  many 
subordinate  by-laws,  the  royal  statute  is  one,  and 
simple,  and  enough.  '  Follow  Me.'  Is  it  not  a  strange 
thing — it  seems  to  me  to  be  a  perfectly  unique  thing, 
inexplicable  except  upon  one  hypothesis — that  a  life  so 
brief,  of  which  the  records  are  so  fragmentary,  in  which 
some  of  the  relationships  in  which  we  stand  had  no 
place,  and  which  was  lived  out  in  a  world  so  utterly 
different  from  our  own,  should  yet  avail  to  be  a  guide 
to  men,  not  in  regard  to  specific  points,  so  much  as  in 
regard  to  the  imperial  supremacy  in  it  of  these  motives 
— '  Even  Christ  pleased  not  Himself ' ;  *  My  meat  is  to  do 
the  will  of  Him  that  sent  Me.' 

And  so,  brethren,  take  this  sharp  test  and  apply  it 
honestly  to  your  own  lives,  day  by  day,  in  all  their 
minutice  as  well  as  in  their  great  things.  '  If  any  man 
serve  Me,'  how  miserably  that  Christian  'service'  has 
been  evacuated  of  its  deepest  meaning,  and  super- 
ficialised  and  narrowed !  '  Service ' — that  means  people 
getting  into  a  building  and  singing  and  praying. 
Service — that  means  acts  of  beneficence,  teaching  and 
preaching  and  giving  material  or  spiritual  helps  of 
various  kinds.  These  things  have  almost  monopolised 
the  word.  But  Christ  enlarges  its  shrivelled  contents 
once  more,  and  teaches  us  that,  far  above  all  specifi- 
cally so-called  acts  of  religious  worship,  and  more  in- 
dispensable than  so-called  acts  of  Christian  activity  and 
service,  lies  thj  self-sacrificing  conformity  of  character 
to  Him.  '  If  any  man  serve  Me,'  let  him  sing  and  praise 
and  pray  ?  Yes ;  '  If  any  man  serve  Me,'  let  him  try  to 
help  other  people,  and  in  the  service  of  man  do  service 
to  Me  ?    Yes  ;  but  deeper  than  all,  and  fundamental  to 


V.26]  AFTER  CHRIST:  WITH  CHRIST    137 

the  others,  '  If  any  man  serve  Me,  let  him  follow  Me ' — 
Is  that  my  discipleship  ?  Let  each  one  of  us  professing 
Christians  ask  himself. 

II.  We  have  here  the  all-sufficient  hope  for  the  future. 

I  know  few  things  more  beautiful  than  the  perfectly 
naive  way  in  which  the  greatest  of  thoughts  is  here  set 
forth  by  the  simplest  of  figures.  If  two  men  are  walk- 
ing on  the  same  road  to  a  place,  the  one  that  is  in  front 
will  get  there  first,  and  his  friend  that  is  coming  up 
after  him  will  get  there  second,  if  he  keeps  on ;  and 
they  will  be  united  at  the  end,  because,  one  after  the 
other,  they  travel  the  road.  And  so  says  Christ :  *  Of 
course,  if  you  follow  Me,  you  will  join  Me ;  and  where 
I  am,  there  shall  also  My  servant  be.'  The  implications 
of  a  Christian  life,  which  is  true  following  of  Christ 
here,  necessarily  led  to  the  confidence  that  in  that  future 
there  will  be  union  with  Him.  That  is  a  deep  thought, 
which  might  afford  material  for  much  to  be  said,  but 
on  which  I  cannot  dwell  now. 

I  remarked  at  an  early  stage  of  this  sermon  how 
singular  it  was  that  our  Lord  should  present  Himself 
as  the  Pattern  for  all  human  excellence.  Is  it  not  even 
more  singular  that  He  should  venture  to  present  His 
own  companionship  as  the  sufficient  recompense  for 
every  sorrow,  for  every  effort,  for  all  pain,  for  all 
pilgrimage?  To  be  with  Him,  He  thinks,  is  enough 
for  any  man  and  enough  for  all  men.  Who  did  He 
think  Himself  to  be?  What  did  He  suppose  His  re- 
lation to  the  rest  of  us  to  be,  who  could  thus  calmly 
suggest  to  the  world  that  the  only  thing  that  a  heart 
needed  for  blessedness  was  to  be  beside  Him?  And 
we  believe  it,  too  little  as  it  influences  our  lives.  *  To 
be  with  Christ '  is  '  very  much  better ';  better  than  all 
I  eneath  the  stars ;  better  than  all  on  this  side  eternity. 


138  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN         [ch.xii. 

What  does  our  Lord  mean  by  this  all-sufficient  hope  ? 
We  know  very  little  of  that  dim  region  beyond,  but  we 
know  that  until  He  comes  again  His  departed  servants 
are  absent  from  the  body.  And,  in  our  sense  of  the  word, 
there  can  be  no  place  for  spirits  thus  free  from  corporeal 
environment.  And  so  place,  to-day  at  all  events  for 
the  departed  saints,  and  in  a  subordinate  degree  all 
through  eternity,  even  when  they  are  clothed  with  a 
glorified  body,  must  be  but  a  symbol  of  state,  of  con- 
dition, of  spiritual  character.  '  Where  I  am  there  shall 
My  servant  be,'  means  specially  '  What  I  am,  that  shall 
My  servant  be.'  This  perfect  conformity  to  that  dear 
Lord,  whose  footsteps  we  have  followed ;  assimilation 
there,  which  is  the  issue  of  imitation  here,  though  broken 
and  imperfect,  this  is  the  hope  that  may  gladden  and 
animate  every  Christian  heart. 

To  be  with  Him  is  to  be  like  Him,  and  therefore 
to  be  conscious  of  His  presence  in  some  fashion  so 
intimate,  so  certain,  as  that  all  our  earthly  notions  of 
presence,  derived  from  the  juxtaposition  of  corporeal 
frames,  are  infinite  distance  as  compared  with  it.  That 
is  what  my  text  dimly  shadows  for  us.  We  know  not 
how  that  union,  which  is  to  be  as  close  as  is  possible 
while  the  distinction  of  personality  is  retained,  may  be 
accomplished.  But  this  we  know,  that  the  coalescence 
of  two  drops  of  mercury,  the  running  together  of  two 
drops  of  water,  the  blending  of  heart  with  heart  here 
in  love,  are  distance  in  comparison  with  the  complete 
union  of  Christ  and  of  the  happy  soul  that  rests  in  Him, 
as  in  an  atmosphere  and  an  ocean.  Oh,  brethren  !  it  is 
not  a  thing  to  talk  about ;  it  is  a  thing  to  take  to  our 
hearts,  and  in  silence  to  be  thankful  for ;  '  absent  from 
the  body  ;  present  with  the  Lord.' 

And  is  that  not  enough  ?    The  ground  of  it  is  enough. 


V.26]  AFTER  CHRIST:  WITH  CHRIST    139 

*  If  we  believe  that  Jesus  died  and  rose  again,  even  so 
them  also  which  sleep  in  Jesus  will  God  bring  with 
Him.'  That  future  companionship  is  guaranteed  to  the 
Christian  man  by  the  words  of  Incarnate  Truth,  and  by 
the  resurrection  of  his  Lord.  The  ground  of  it  is  enough, 
and  the  contents  are  enough — enough  for  faith ;  enough 
for  hope ;  enough  for  peace ;  enough  for  work ;  and 
eminently  enough  for  comfort. 

Ah !  there  are  many  other  questions  that  we  would 
fain  ask,  but  to  which  there  is  no  reply;  but  as  the 
good  old  rough  music  of  one  of  the  eighteenth-century 
worthies  has  it,  we  have  sufficient. 

♦  My  knowledge  of  that  life  is  small, 

The  eye  of  faith  is  dim  ; 
But  'tis  enough  that  Christ  knows  all, 
And  I  shall  be  with  Him.' 

*It  is  enough  for  the  disciple  that  he  be  as*  (that 
is,  with) '  his  Master.'  So  let  us  take  that  thought 
to  our  hearts  and  animate  ourselves  with  it,  for  it  is 
legitimate  for  us  to  do  so.  That  one  hope  is  sufficient 
for  us  all. 

Only  let  us  remember  that,  according  to  the  teaching 
of  my  text,  the  companionship  that  blesses  the  future 
is  the  issue  of  following  Him  now.  I  know  of  no 
magic  in  death  that  is  able  to  change  the  direction  in 
which  a  man's  face  is  turned.  As  he  is  travelling  and 
has  travelled,  so  he  will  travel  when  he  comes  through 
the  tunnel,  and  out  into  the  brighter  light  yonder.  The 
line  of  a  railway  marked  upon  a  map  may  stop  at 
the  boundaries  of  the  country  with  which  the  map  is 
concerned,  but  it  is  clearly  going  somewhere,  and  in 
the  same  direction.  You  want  the  other  sheet  of  the 
map  in  order  to  see  whither  it  is  going.    That  is  like 


140  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xii. 

your  life.  The  map  stops  very  abruptly,  but  the  line 
does  not  stop.  Take  an  unfinished  row  of  tenements. 
On  the  last  house  there  stick  out  bricks  preparatory 
to  the  continuation  of  the  row.  And  so  our  lives  are, 
as  it  were,  studded  over  with  protuberances  and  pre- 
parations for  the  attachment  thereto  of  a  '  house  not 
made  with  hands,'  and  yet  conformed  in  its  architecture 
to  the  row  that  we  have  built.  The  man  that  follows 
will  attain.  For  life,  the  all-sufficient  law  is,  after  Christ; 
for  hope,  the  all-sufficient  assurance  is,  with  Christ. 


THE  UNIVERSAL  MAGNET 

'  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  .  .  .  will  draw  all  men  unto  Me.'— John  xii.  32. 

'  Never  man  spake  like  this  Man,'  said  the  wondering 
Temple  officials  who  were  sent  to  apprehend  Jesus. 
There  are  many  aspects  of  our  Lord's  teaching  in  which 
it  strikes  one  as  unique ;  but  perhaps  none  is  more 
singular  than  the  boundless  boldness  of  His  assertions 
of  His  importance  to  the  world.  Just  think  of  such 
sayings  as  these :  '  I  am  the  Light  of  the  world ' ;  '  I  am 
the  Bread  of  Life ' ;  '  I  am  the  Door ' ;  '  A  greater  than 
Solomon  is  here ' ;  '  In  this  place  is  One  greater  than  the 
Temple.'  We  do  not  usually  attach  much  importance 
to  men's  estimate  of  themselves ;  and  gigantic  claims 
such  as  these  are  generally  met  by  incredulity  or  scorn. 
But  the  strange  thing  about  Christ's  loftiest  assertions 
of  His  world-wide  worth  and  personal  sinlessness  is  that 
they  provoke  no  contradiction,  and  that  the  world 
takes  Him  at  His  own  valuation.  So  profound  is  the 
impression  that  He  has  made,  that  men  assent  when  He 
says,  '  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart,'  and  do  not  answer 


V.32]       THE  UNIVERSAL  MAGNET         141 

as  they  would  to  anybody  else,  *  If  you  were,  you  would 
never  have  said  so.' 

Now  there  is  no  more  startling  utterance  of  this  ex- 
traordinary self-consciousness  of  Jesus  Christ  than  the 
words  that  I  have  used  for  my  text.  They  go  deep 
down  into  the  secret  of  His  power.  They  open  a 
glimpse  into  His  inmost  thoughts  about  Himself  which 
He  very  seldom  shows  us.  And  they  come  to  each  of 
us  with  a  very  touching  and  strong  personal  appeal  as 
to  what  we  are  doing  with,  and  how  we  individually 
are  responding  to,  that  universal  appeal  on  which  He 
says  that  He  is  exercising. 

I.  So  I  wish  to  dwell  on  these  words  now,  and  ask  you 
first  to  notice  here  our  Lord's  forecasting  of  the  Cross. 

A  handful  of  Greeks  had  come  up  to  Jerusalem  to  the 
Passover,  and  they  desired  to  see  Jesus,  perhaps  only 
because  they  had  heard  about  Him,  and  to  gratify 
some  fleeting  curiosity ;  perhaps  for  some  deeper  and 
more  sacred  reason.  But  in  that  tiny  incident  our  Lord 
sees  the  first  green  blade  coming  up  above  the  ground 
which  was  the  prophet  of  an  abundant  harvest ;  the 
first  drop  of  a  great  abundance  of  rain.  He  recognises 
that  He  is  beginning  to  pass  out  from  Israel  into  the 
world.  But  the  thought  of  His  world-wide  influence 
thus  indicated  and  prophesied  immediately  brings  along 
with  it  the  thought  of  what  must  be  gone  through 
before  that  influence  can  be  established.  And  he  dis- 
cerns that,  like  the  corn  of  wheat  that  falls  into  the 
ground,  the  condition  of  fruitfulness  for  Him  is  death. 

Now  we  are  to  remember  that  our  Lord  here  is 
within  a  few  hours  of  Gethsemane,  and  a  few  days  of 
the  Cross,  and  that  events  had  so  unfolded  themselves 
that  it  needed  no  prophet  to  see  that  there  could  only 
be  one  end  to  the  duel  which    he    had  deliberately 


142  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN         [ch.  xii. 

brought  about  between  Himself  and  the  rulers  of 
Israel.  So  that  I  build  nothing  upon  the  anticipation 
of  the  Cross,  which  comes  out  at  this  stage  in  our 
Lord's  history,  for  any  man  in  His  position  might  have 
seen,  as  clearly  as  He  did,  that  His  path  was  blocked, 
and  that  very  near  at  hand,  by  the  grim  instrument  of 
death.  But  then  remember  that  this  same  expression 
of  my  text  occurs  at  a  very  much  earlier  period  of  our 
Lord's  career,  and  that  if  we  accept  this  Gospel  of  John, 
at  the  very  beginning  of  it  He  said,  '  As  Moses  lifted  up 
the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  even  so  must  the  Son  of 
Man  be  lifted  up ' ;  and  that  that  was  no  mere  passing 
thought  is  obvious  from  the  fact  that  midway  in  His 
career,  if  we  accept  the  testimony  of  the  same  Gospel, 
He  used  the  same  expression  to  cavilling  opponents 
when  He  said :  '  "S\Tien  ye  have  lifted  up  the  Son  of 
Man,  then  shall  ye  know  that  I  am  He.'  And  so  at  the 
beginning,  in  the  middle,  and  at  the  end  of  His  career 
the  same  idea  is  cast  into  the  same  words,  a  witness  of 
the  hold  that  it  had  upon  Him,  and  the  continual 
presence  of  it  to  His  consciousness. 

I  do  not  need  to  refer  here  to  other  illustrations  and 
proofs  of  the  same  thing,  only  I  desire  to  say,  as  plainly 
and  strongly  as  I  can,  that  modern  ideas  that  Jesus 
Christ  only  recognised  the  necessity  of  His  death  at  a 
late  stage  of  His  work,  and  that  like  other  reformers, 
He  began  with  buoyant  hope,  and  thought  that  He  had 
but  to  speak  and  the  world  would  hear,  and,  like  other 
reformers,  was  disenchanted  by  degrees,  are,  in  my 
poor  judgment,  utterly  baseless,  and  bluntly  contra- 
dicted by  the  Gospel  narratives..  And  so,  dear  brethren, 
this  is  the  image  that  rises  before  us,  and  that  ought  to 
appeal  to  us  all  very  plainly ;  a  Christ  who,  from  the 
fii-st  moment  of  His  consciousness  of  Messiahship— and 


V.32]        THE  UNIVERSAL  MAGNET         143 

how  early  that  consciousness  was  I  am  not  here  to 
inquire — was  conscious  likewise  of  the  death  that  was 
to  close  it.  *  He  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to 
minister,'  and  likewise  for  this  end,  '  to  give  His  life  a 
ransom  for  the  many.'  That  gracious,  gentle  life,  full 
of  all  charities,  and  long-suffering,  and  sweet  goodness, 
and  patience,  was  not  the  life  of  a  Man  whose  heart 
was  at  leisure  from  all  anxiety  about  Himself,  but  the 
life  of  a  Man  before  whom  there  stood,  ever  grim  and 
distinct  away  on  the  horizon,  the  Cross  and  Himself 
upon  it.  You  all  remember  a  well-known  picture  that 
suggests  the  'Shadow  of  Death,'  the  shadow  of  the 
Cross  falling,  unseen  by  Him,  but  seen  with  open  eyes 
of  horror  by  His  mother.  But  the  reality  is  a  far  more 
pathetic  one  than  that;  it  is  this,  that  He  came  on 
purpose  to  die. 

But  now  there  is  another  point  suggested  by  these 
remarkable  words,  and  that  is  that  our  Lord  regarded 
the  Cross  of  shame  as  exaltation  or  '  lifting  up.'  I  do 
not  believe  that  the  use  of  this  remarkable  phrase  in 
our  text  finds  its  explanation  in  the  few  inches  of  eleva- 
tion above  the  surface  of  the  ground  to  which  the 
crucified  victims  were  usually  raised.  That  is  there,  of 
course,  but  there  is  something  far  deeper  and  more 
wonderful  than  that  in  the  background,  and  it  is  this  in 
part,  that  that  Cross,  to  Christ's  eyes,  bore  a  double 
aspect.  So  far  as  the  inflicters  or  the  externals  of  it 
were  concerned,  it  was  ignominy,  shame,  agony,  the 
very  lowest  point  of  humiliation.  But  there  was  another 
side  to  it.  What  in  one  aspect  is  the  nadir,  the  lowest 
point  beneath  men's  feet,  is  in  another  aspect  the  zenith, 
the  very  highest  point  in  the  bending  heaven  above  us. 
So  throughout  this  Gospel,  and  very  emphatically  in 
the  text,  we  find  that  we  have  the  complement  of  the 


144  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xii. 

Pauline  view  of  the  Cross,  which  is,  that  it  was  shame 
and  agony.  For  our  Lord  says,  *  Now  the  hour  is  come 
when  the  Son  of  Man  shall  be  glorified.'  Whether  it  is 
glory  or  shame  depends  on  what  it  was  that  bound 
Him  there.  The  reason  for  His  enduring  it  makes  it  the 
very  climax  and  flaming  summit  of  His  flaming  love. 
And,  therefore,  He  is  lifted  up  not  merely  because  the 
Cross  is  elevated  above  the  ground  on  the  little  eleva- 
tion of  Calvary,  but  that  Cross  is  His  throne,  because 
there,  in  highest  and  sovereign  fashion,  are  set  forth 
His  glories,  the  glories  of  His  love,  and  of  the  *  grace 
and  truth '  of  which  He  was  '  full.' 

So  let  us  not  forget  this  double  aspect,  and  whilst  we 
bow  before  Him  who  '  endured  the  Cross,  despising  the 
shame,'  let  us  also  try  to  understand  and  to  feel  what 
He  means  when,  in  the  vision  of  it,  He  said,  '  the  hour 
is  come  that  the  Son  of  Man  shall  be  glorified.'  It  was 
meant  for  mockery,  but  mockery  veiled  unsuspected 
truth  when  they  twined  round  His  pale  brows  the  crown 
of  thorns,  thereby  setting  forth  unconsciously  the  ever- 
lasting truth  that  sovereignty  is  won  by  suffering ;  and 
placed  in  His  unresisting  hand  the  sceptre  of  reed, 
thereby  setting  forth  the  deep  truth  of  His  kingdom, 
that  dominion  is  exercised  in  gentleness.  Mightier 
than  all  rods  of  iron,  or  sharp  swords  which  con- 
querors wield,  and  more  lustrous  and  splendid  than 
tiaras  of  gold  glistening  with  diamonds,  are  the  sceptre 
of  reed  in  the  hands,  and  the  crown  of  thorns  on  the 
head,  of  the  exalted,  because  crucified,  Man  of  Sorrows. 

But  there  is  still  another  aspect  of  Christ's  vision  of 
His  Cross,  for  the  *  lifting  up '  on  it  necessarily  draws 
after  it  the  lifting  up  to  the  dominion  of  the  heavens. 
And  so  the  Apostle,  using  a  word  kindred  with  that 
of  my  text,  but  intensifying  it  by  addition,  says,  'He 


V.32]       THE  UNIVERSAL  MAGNET         145 

became  obedient  even  unto  the  death  of  the  Cross, 
wherefore  God  also  hath  highly  lifted  Him  up.' 

So  here  we  have  Christ's  own  conception  of  His  death, 
that  it  was  inevitable,  that  it  was  exaltation  even  in  the 
act  of  dying,  and  that  it  drew  after  it,  of  inevitable 
necessity,  dominion  exercised  from  the  heavens  over 
all  the  earth.  He  was  lifted  up  on  Calvary,  and  because 
He  was  lifted  up  He  has  carried  our  manhood  into  the 
place  of  glory,  and  sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
Majesty  on  high.  So  much  for  the  first  point  to  which 
I  would  desire  to  turn  your  attention. 

II.  Now  we  have  here  our  Lord  disclosing  the  secret 
of  His  attractive  power. 

'  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men 
unto  Me.'  That  'if  expresses  no  doubt,  it  only  sets 
forth  the  condition.  The  Christ  lifted  up  on  the  Cross 
is  the  Christ  that  draws  men.  Now  I  would  have  you 
notice  the  fact  that  our  Lord  thus  unveils,  as  it  were, 
where  His  power  to  influence  individuals  and  humanity 
chiefly  resides.  He  speaks  about  His  death  in  altogether 
a  different  fashion  from  that  of  other  men,  for  He  does 
not  merely  say,  '  If  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  this 
story  of  the  Cross  will  draw  men,'  but  He  says,  *  I  will ' 
do  it ;  and  thus  contemplates,  as  I  shall  have  to  say  in 
a  moment,  continuous  personal  influence  all  through 
the  ages. 

Now  that  is  not  how  other  people  have  to  speak 
about  their  deaths,  for  all  other  men  who  have  in- 
fluenced the  world  for  good  or  for  evil,  thinkers  and 
benefactors,  and  reformers,  social  and  religious,  all  of 
them  come  under  the  one  law  that  their  death  is  no 
part  of  their  activity,  but  terminates  their  work,  and 
that  thereafter,  with  few  exceptions,  and  for  brief 
periods,  their  influence  is  a  diminishing  quantity.    So 

VOL.  II.  K 


146  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xii. 

one  Apostle  had  to  say,  '  To  abide  in  the  flesh  is  more 
needful  for  you,'  and  another  had  to  say,  '  I  will  en- 
deavour that  after  my  decease  ye  may  keep  in  mind 
the  things  that  I  have  told  you  ' ;  and  all  thinkers  and 
teachers  and  helpers  glide  away  further  and  further, 
and  are  wrapped  about  with  thicker  and  thicker  mists 
of  oblivion,  and  their  influence  becomes  less  and  less. 

The  best  that  history  can  say  about  any  of  them  is, 
'  This  man,  having  served  his  generation  by  the  will 
of  God,  fell  on  sleep.'  But  that  other  Man  who  was 
lifted  on  the  Cross  saw  no  corruption,  and  the  death 
which  puts  a  period  to  all  other  men's  work  was 
planted  right  in  the  centre  of  His,  and  was  itself  part 
of  that  work,  and  was  followed  by  a  new  form  of  it 
which  is  to  endure  for  ever. 

The  Cross  is  the  magnet  of  Christianity.  Jesus 
Christ  draws  men,  but  it  is  by  His  Cross  mainly,  and 
that  He  felt  this  profoundly  is  plain  enough,  not  only 
from  such  utterances  as  this  of  my  text,  but,  to  go 
no  further,  from  the  fact  that  He  has  asked  us  to 
remember  only  one  thing  about  Him,  and  has  estab- 
lished that  ordinance  of  the  Communion  or  the  Lord's 
Supper,  which  is  to  remind  us  always,  and  to  bear 
witness  to  the  world,  of  where  is  the  centre  of  His 
work,  and  the  fact  which  He  most  desires  that  men 
should  keep  in  mind,  not  the  graciousness  of  His 
words,  not  their  wisdom,  not  the  good  deeds  that  He 
did,  but  '  This  is  My  body  broken  for  you  .  .  .  this  cup 
is  the  New  Testament  in  My  blood.'  A  religion  which 
has  for  its  chief  rite  the  symbol  of  a  death,  must 
enshrine  that  death  in  the  very  heart  of  the  forces 
to  which  it  trusts  to  renew  the  world,  and  to  bless 
individual  souls. 

If,  then,  that  is  true,  if  Jesus  Christ  was  not  all 


V.32]       THE  UNIVERSAL  MAGKET         147 

wrong  when  He  spoke  as  He  did  in  my  text,  then 
the  question  arises,  what  is  it  about  His  death  that 
makes  it  the  magnet  that  will  draw  all  men  ?  Men  are 
drawn  by  cords  of  love.  They  may  be  driven  by  other 
means,  but  they  are  drawn  only  by  love.  And  what  is 
it  that  makes  Christ's  death  the  highest  and  noblest 
and  most  wonderful  and  transcendent  manifestation 
of  love  that  the  world  has  ever  seen,  or  ever  can  see  ? 
No  doubt  you  will  think  me  very  narrow  and  old- 
fashioned  when  I  answer  the  question,  with  the  pro- 
foundest  conviction  of  my  own  mind,  and,  I  hope,  the 
trust  of  my  own  heart.  The  one  thing  that  entitles 
men  to  interpret  Christ's  death  as  the  supreme  mani- 
festation of  love  is  that  it  was  a  death  voluntarily 
undertaken  for  a  world's  sins. 

If  you  do  not  believe  that,  will  you  tell  me  what 
claim  on  your  heart  Christ  has  because  He  died  ?  Has 
Socrates  any  claim  on  your  heart  ?  And  are  there  not 
hundreds  and  thousands  of  martyrs  who  have  just  as 
much  right  to  be  regarded  vrith  reverence  and  affection 
as  this  Galilean  carpenter's  Son  has,  unless,  when  He 
died,  He  died  as  the  Sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the  whole 
world,  and  for  yours  and  mine  ?  I  know  all  the  pathetic 
beauty  of  the  story.  I  know  how  many  men's  hearts 
are  moved  in  some  degree  by  the  life  and  death  of  our 
Lord,  who  yet  would  hesitate  to  adopt  the  full-toned 
utterance  which  I  have  now  been  giving.  But  I  would 
beseech  you,  dear  friends,  to  lay  this  question  seriously 
to  heart,  whether  there  is  any  legitimate  reason  for  the 
reverence,  the  love,  the  worship,  which  the  world  is 
giving  to  this  Galilean  young  man,  if  you  strike  out 
the  thought  that  it  was  because  He  loved  the  world 
that  He  chose  to  die  to  loose  it  from  the  bands  of  its 
sin.     It  may  be,  it  is,  a  most  pathetic  and  lovely  story, 


148  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xii. 

but  it  has  not  power  to  draw  all  men,  unless  it  deals 
with  that  w^hich  all  men  need,  and  unless  it  is  the  self- 
surrender  of  the  Son  of  God  for  the  whole  world. 

III.  And  now,  lastly,  we  have  here  our  Lord  antici- 
pating continuous  and  universal  influence. 

I  have  already  drawn  attention  to  the  peculiar  full- 
ness of  the  form  of  expression  in  my  text,  which,  fairly 
interpreted,  does  certainly  imply  that  our  Lord  at  that 
supreme  moment  looked  forward,  as  I  have  already 
said,  to  His  death,  not  as  putting  a  period  to  His  work, 
but  as  being  the  transition  from  one  form  of  influence 
operating  upon  a  very  narrow  circle,  to  another  form 
of  influence  which  would  one  day  flood  the  world.  I 
do  not  need  to  dwell  upon  that  thought,  beyond  seeking 
to  emphasise  this  truth,  that  one  ought  to  feel  that 
Jesus  Christ  has  a  living  connection  now  with  each 
of  us.  It  is  not  merely  that  the  story  of  the  Cross  is 
left  to  work  its  results,  but,  as  I  for  my  part  believe, 
that  the  dear  Lord,  who,  before  He  became  Man,  was 
the  Light  of  the  World,  and  enlightened  every  man  that 
came  into  it,  after  His  death  is  yet  more  the  Light  of 
the  World,  and  is  exercising  influence  all  over  the 
earth,  not  only  by  conscience  and  the  light  that  is 
within  us,  nor  only  through  the  effects  of  the  record 
of  His  past,  but  by  the  continuous  operations  of  His 
Spirit.  I  do  not  dwell  upon  that  thought  further  than 
to  say  that  I  beseech  you  to  think  of  Jesus  Christ,  not 
as  One  who  died  for  our  sins  only,  but  as  one  who  lives 
to-day,  and  to-day,  in  no  rhetorical  exaggeration  but  in 
simple  and  profound  truth,  is  ready  to  help  and  to 
bless  and  to  be  with  every  one  of  us.  *  It  is  Christ  that 
died,  yea,  rather  that  is  risen  again,  who  is  even  at 
the  right  band  of  God,  who  also  maketh  intercession 
for  us.' 


V.  32]       THE  UNIVERSAL  MAGNET         149 

But,  beyond  that,  mark  His  confidence  of  universal 
influence :  '  I  will  draw  all  men.'  I  need  not  dwell  upon 
the  distinct  adaptation  of  Christian  truth,  and  of  that 
sacrifice  on  the  Cross,  to  the  needs  of  all  men.  It  is  the 
universal  remedy,  for  it  goes  direct  to  the  universal 
epidemic.  The  thing  that  men  and  women  want  most, 
the  thing  that  you  want  most,  is  that  your  relation 
with  God  shall  be  set  right,  and  that  you  shall  be 
delivered  from  the  guilt  of  past  sin,  from  the  exposure 
to  its  power  in  the  present  and  in  the  future.  Whatever 
diversities  of  climate,  civilisation,  culture,  character  the 
world  holds,  every  man  is  like  every  other  man  in  this, 
that  he  has  '  sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God.' 
And  it  is  because  Christ's  Cross  goes  direct  to  deal 
with  that  condition  of  things  that  the  preaching  of 
it  is  a  gospel,  not  for  this  phase  of  society  or  that 
type  of  men  or  the  other  stage  of  culture,  but  that 
it  is  meant  for,  and  is  able  to  deliver  and  to  bless,  every 
man. 

So,  brethren,  a  universal  attraction  is  raying  out 
from  Christ's  Cross,  and  from  Himself  to  each  of  us. 
But  that  universal  attraction  can  be  resisted.  If  a  man 
plants  his  feet  firmly  and  wide  apart,  and  holds  on  with 
both  hands  to  some  staple  or  holdfast,  then  the  drawing 
cannot  draw.  There  is  the  attraction,  but  he  is  not 
attracted.  You  demagnetise  Christianity,  as  all  history 
shows,  if  you  strike  out  the  death  on  the  Cross  for  a 
world's  sin.  What  is  left  is  not  a  magnet,  but  a  bit  of 
scrap  iron.  And  you  can  take  yourself  away  from  the 
influence  of  the  attraction  if  you  will,  some  of  us  by 
active  resistance,  some  of  us  by  mere  negligence,  as  a 
cord  cast  over  some  slippery  body  with  the  purpose 
of  drawing  it,  may  slip  off,  and  the  thing  lie  there 
unmoved. 


150  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN         [ch.  xii. 

And  so  I  come  to  you  now,  dear  friends,  with  the 
plain  question,  What  are  you  doing  in  response  to 
Christ's  drawing  of  you  ?  He  has  died  for  you  on  the 
Cross ;  does  that  not  draw  ?  He  lives  to  bless  you ; 
does  that  not  draw  ?  He  loves  you  with  love  change- 
less as  a  God,  with  love  warm  and  emotional  as  a  man ; 
does  that  not  draw?  He  speaks  to  you,  I  venture  to 
say,  through  my  poor  words,  and  says, '  Come  unto  Me, 
and  I  will  give  you  rest ' ;  does  that  not  draw  ?  We  are 
all  in  the  bog.  He  stands  on  firm  ground,  and  puts  out 
a  hand.  If  you  like  to  clutch  it,  by  the  pledge  of  the 
nail-prints  on  the  palm.  He  will  lift  you  from  'the 
horrible  pit  and  the  miry  clay,  and  set  your  feet  upon  a 
rock.'  God  grant  that  all  of  us  may  say,  *  Draw  us,  and 
we  will  run  after  Thee ' ! 


THE  SON  OF  MAN 

'.  .  .  Who  is  this  Son  of  Man?'— John  xii.  34. 

I  HAVE  thought  that  a  useful  sermon  may  be  devoted 
to  the  consideration  of  the  remarkable  name  which 
our  Lord  gives  to  Himself — 'the  Son  of  Man.'  And  I 
have  selected  this  instance  of  its  occurrence,  rather 
than  any  other,  because  it  brings  out  a  point  which 
is  too  frequently  overlooked,  viz.  that  the  name  was  an 
entirely  strange  and  enigmatical  one  to  the  people  who 
heard  it.  This  question  of  utter  bewilderment  distinctly 
shows  us  that,  and  negatives,  as  it  seems  to  me,  the 
supposition  which  is  often  made,  that  the  name  '  Son  of 
Man,'  upon  the  lips  of  Jesus  Christ,  was  equivalent  to 
Messiah.  Obviously  there  is  no  such  significance  attached 
to  it  by  those  who  put  this  question.  As  obviously,  for 
another  reason,  the  two  names  do  not  cover  the  same 


V.34]  THE  SON  OF  MAN  151 

ground ;  for  our  Lord  sedulously  avoided  calling  Him- 
self the  Christ,  and  habitually  called  Himself  the  Son 
of  Man. 

Now  one  thing  to  observe  about  this  name  is  that  it 
is  never  found  upon  the  lips  of  any  but  Jesus  Christ. 
No  man  ever  called  him  the  Son  of  Man  whilst  He  was 
upon  earth,  and  only  once  do  we  find  it  applied  to  Him 
in  the  rest  of  Scripture,  and  that  is  on  the  occasion  on 
which  the  first  martyr,  Stephen,  dying  at  the  foot  of 
the  old  wall,  saw  '  the  heavens  opened,  and  the  Son  of 
Man  standing  at  the  right  hand  of  God.'  Two  other 
apparent  instances  of  the  use  of  the  expression  occur, 
both  of  them  in  the  Book  of  Revelation,  both  of  them 
quotations  from  the  Old  Testament,  and  in  both  the 
more  probable  reading  gives  '  a  Son  of  Man,'  not  '  the 
Son  of  Man.' 

One  more  preliminary  remark  and  I  will  pass  to  the 
title  itself.  The  name  has  been  often  supposed  to  be 
taken  from  the  remarkable  prophecy  in  the  Book  of 
Daniel,  of  one  '  like  a  son  of  man,'  who  receives  from 
the  Ancient  of  Days  an  everlasting  kingdom  which 
triumphs  over  those  kingdoms  of  brute  force  which 
the  prophet  had  seen.  No  doubt  there  is  a  connection 
between  the  prophecy  and  our  Lord's  use  of  the  name, 
but  it  is  to  be  observed  that  what  the  prophet  speaks 
of  is  not  '  the  Son,'  but  '  one  like  a  son  of  man ' ;  or  in 
other  words,  that  what  the  prophecy  dwells  upon  is 
simply  the  manhood  of  the  future  King  in  contradis- 
tinction to  the  bestial  forms  of  Lion  and  Leopard  and 
Bear,  whose  kingdoms  go  down  before  him.  Of  course 
Christ  fulfils  that  prediction,  and  is  the  '  One  like  a  son 
of  man,'  but  we  cannot  say  that  the  title  is  derived 
from  the  prophecy,  in  which,  strictly  speaking,  it  does 
not  occur. 


152  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xii. 

What,  then,  is  the  force  of  this  name,  as  applied  to 
Himself  by  our  Lord? 

First,  we  have  in  it  Christ  putting  out  His  hand,  if  I 
may  say  so,  to  draw  us  to  Himself— identifying  Himself 
with  us.  Then  we  have,  just  as  distinctly,  Christ,  by 
the  use  of  this  name,  in  a  very  real  sense  distinguish- 
ing Himself  from  us,  and  claiming  to  hold  a  unique 
and  solitary  relation  to  mankind.  And  then  we  have 
Christ,  by  the  use  of  this  name  in  its  connection  with 
the  ancient  prophecy,  pointing  us  onward  to  a  wonder- 
ful future. 

I.  First  then,  Christ  thereby  identifies  Himself  with  us. 

The  name  Son  of  Man,  whatever  more  it  means, 
declares  the  historical  fact  of  His  Incarnation,  and  the 
reality  and  genuineness,  the  completeness  and  fullness, 
of  His  assumption  of  humanity.  And  so  it  is  signi- 
ficant to  notice  that  the  name  is  employed  continually 
in  the  places  in  the  Gospels  where  especial  emphasis  is 
to  be  placed,  for  some  reason  or  other,  upon  our  Lord's 
manhood,  as,  for  instance,  when  He  would  bring  into 
view  the  depth  of  His  humiliation.  It  is  this  name 
that  He  uses  when  He  says:  'Foxes  have  holes  and 
the  birds  of  the  air  have  nests,  but  the  Son  of  Man 
hath  not  where  to  lay  His  head.'  The  use  of  the  term 
there  is  very  significant  and  profound;  He  contrasts 
His  homelessness,  not  with  the  homes  of  men  that 
dwell  in  palaces,  but  with  the  homes  of  the  inferior 
creatures.  As  if  He  would  say,  '  Not  merely  am  I  indi- 
vidually homeless  and  shelterless,  but  I  am  so  because 
I  am  truly  a  man,  the  only  creature  that  builds  houses, 
and  the  only  creature  that  has  not  a  home.  Foxes 
have  holes,  anywhere  they  can  rest,  the  birds  of  the 
air  have,'  not  as  our  Bible  gives  it,  *  nests,'  but  '  roost- 
ing-places;  any  bough  will  do  for  them.      All  living 


V.34]  THE  SON  OF  MAN  153 

creatures  are  at  home  in  this  material  universe ;  I,  as 
a  Representative  of  humanity,  wander  a  pilgrim  and 
a  sojourner.'  We  are  all  restless  and  homeless;  the 
creatures  correspond  to  their  environment.  We  have 
desires  and  longings,  wild  yearnings,  and  deep-seated 
needs,  that '  wander  through  eternity ' ;  the  Son  of  Man, 
the  representative  of  manhood,  '  hath  not  where  to  lay 
His  head.' 

Then  the  same  expression  is  employed  on  occasions 
when  our  Lord  desires  to  emphasise  the  completeness 
of  His  participation  in  all  our  conditions.  As,  for  in- 
stance, 'the  Son  of  Man  came  eating  and  drinking,' 
knowing  the  ordinary  limitations  and  necessities  of 
corporeal  humanity;  having  the  ordinary  dependence 
upon  external  things;  nor  unwilling  to  taste,  with 
pure  and  thankful  lip,  whatever  gladness  may  be 
found  in  man's  path  through  the  supply  of  natural 
appetites. 

And  the  name  is  employed  habitually  on  occasions 
when  He  desires  to  emphasise  His  manhood  as  having 
truly  taken  upon  itself  the  whole  weight  and  weari- 
ness of  man's  sin,  and  the  whole  burden  of  man's  guilt, 
and  the  whole  tragicalness  of  the  penalties  thereof, 
as  in  the  familiar  passages,  so  numerous  that  I  need 
only  refer  to  them  and  need  not  attempt  to  quote 
them,  in  which  we  read  of  the  Son  of  Man  being 
'  betrayed  into  the  hands  of  sinners ' ;  or  in  those  words, 
for  instance,  which  so  marvellously  blend  the  lowli- 
ness of  the  Man  and  the  lofty  consciousness  of  the 
mysterious  relation  which  He  bears  to  the  whole 
world;  'The  Son  of  Man  came,  not  to  be  ministered 
unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  His  life  a  ransom  for 
the  many.' 

Now  if  we  gather  all  these  instances  together  (and 


154  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN         [ch.xii. 

they  are  only  specimens  culled  almost  at  random),  and 
meditate  for  a  moment  on  the  Name  as  illuminated  by 
such  words  as  these,  they  suggest  to  us,  first,  how  truly 
and  how  blessedly  He  is  *  bone  of  our  bone,  and  flesh  of 
our  flesh.'  All  our  human  joys  were  His.  He  knew  all 
human  sorrow.  The  ordinary  wants  of  human  nature 
belonged  to  Him ;  He  hungered,  He  thirsted,  and  was 
weary;  He  ate  and  drank  and  slept.  The  ordinary 
wants  of  the  human  heart  He  knew ;  He  was  hurt 
by  hatred,  stung  by  ingratitude,  yearned  for  love ;  His 
spirit  expanded  amongst  friends,  and  was  pained  when 
they  fell  away.  He  fought  and  toiled,  and  sorrowed 
and  enjoyed.  He  had  to  pray,  to  trust,  and  to  weep. 
He  was  a  Son  of  Man,  a  true  man  among  men.  His 
life  was  brief ;  we  have  but  fragmentary  records  of  it 
for  three  short  years.  In  outward  form  it  covers  but 
a  narrow  area  of  human  experience,  and  large  tracts  of 
human  life  seem  to  be  unrepresented  in  it.  Yet  all  ages 
and  classes  of  men,  in  all  circumstances,  however  unlike 
those  of  the  peasant  Rabbi  who  died  when  he  was  just 
entering  mature  manhood,  may  feel  that  this  man 
comes  closer  to  them  than  all  beside.  Whether  for 
stimulus  for  duty,  or  for  grace  and  patience  in  sorrow, 
or  for  restraint  in  enjoyment,  or  for  the  hallowing  of 
all  circumstances  and  all  tasks,  the  presence  and  ex- 
ample of  the  Son  of  Man  are  sufficient.  Wherever  we 
go,  we  may  track  His  footsteps  by  the  drops  of  His 
blood  upon  the  sharp  flints  that  we  have  to  tread.  In 
all  narrow  passes,  ^vhere  the  briars  tear  the  wool  of 
the  flock,  we  may  see,  left  there  on  the  thorns,  what 
they  rent  from  the  pure  fleece  of  the  Lamb  of  God 
that  went  before.  The  Son  of  Man  is  our  Brother  and 
our  Example. 
And  is  it  not  beautiful,  and  does  it  not  speak  to  ua 


V.34]  THE  SON  OF  MAN  155 

touchingly  and  sweetly  of  our  Lord's  earnest  desire  to 
get  very  near  us  and  to  bring  us  very  near  to  Him, 
that  this  name,  which  emphasises  humiliation  and 
weakness  and  the  likeness  to  ourselves,  should  be  the 
name  that  is  always  upon  His  lips  ?  Just  as,  if  I  may 
compare  great  things  with  small,  some  teacher  or 
philanthropist,  that  went  away  from  civilised  into 
savage  life,  might  leave  behind  him  the  name  by  which 
he  was  known  in  Europe,  and  adopt  some  barbarous 
designation  that  was  significant  in  the  language  of  the 
savage  tribe  to  whom  he  was  sent,  and  say  to  them : 
'  That  is  my  name  now,  call  me  by  that,'  so  this  great 
Leader  of  our  souls,  who  has  landed  upon  our  coasts 
with  His  hands  full  of  blessings.  His  heart  full  of  love, 
has  taken  a  name  that  makes  Him  one  of  ourselves, 
and  is  never  wearied  of  speaking  to  our  hearts,  and 
telling  us  that  it  is  that  by  which  He  chooses  to  be 
known.  It  is  a  touch  of  the  same  infinite  condescen- 
sion which  prompted  His  coming,  that  makes  Him 
choose  as  His  favourite  and  habitual  designation  the 
name  of  weakness  and  identification,  the  name  'Son 
of  Man.' 

II.  But  now  turn  to  what  is  equally  distinct  and 
clear  in  this  title.  Here  we  have  our  Lord  distinguish- 
ing Himself  from  us,  and  plainly  claiming  a  unique 
relationship  to  the  whole  world. 

Just  fancy  how  absurd  it  would  be  for  one  of  us  to  be 
perpetually  insisting  on  the  fact  that  he  was  a  man,  to 
be  taking  that  as  his  continual  description  of  himself, 
and  pressing  it  upon  people's  attention  as  if  there  was 
something  strange  about  it.  The  idea  is  preposterous  ; 
and  the  very  frequency  and  emphasis  with  which  the 
name  comes  from  our  Lord's  lips,  lead  one  to  suspect 
that  there  is   something  lying  behind  it  more  than 


156  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xii. 

appears  on  the  surface.  That  impression  is  conjfirmed 
and  made  a  conviction,  if  you  mark  the  article  which 
is  prefixed,  the  Son  of  Man.  A  Son  of  man  is  a  very 
different  idea.  When  He  says  '  the  Son  of  Man '  He 
seems  to  declare  that  in  Himself  there  are  gathered  up 
all  the  qualities  that  constitute  humanity ;  that  He  is, 
to  use  modern  language,  the  realised  Ideal  of  manhood, 
the  typical  Man,  in  whom  is  everything  that  belongs  to 
manhood,  and  who  stands  forth  as  complete  and  per- 
fect. Appropriately,  then,  the  name  is  continually  used 
with  suggestions  of  authority  and  dignity  contrasting 
with  those  of  humiliation.  '  The  Son  of  Man  is  Lord  of 
the  Sabbath,'  '  The  Son  of  Man  hath  power  on  earth 
to  forgive  sins,'  and  the  like.  So  that  you  cannot  get 
away  from  this,  that  this  Man  whom  the  whole  world 
has  conspired  to  profess  to  admire  for  His  gentleness, 
and  His  meekness,  and  His  lowliness,  and  His  religious 
sanity,  stood  forward  and  said :  '  I  am  complete  and 
perfect,  and  everything  that  belongs  to  manhood  you 
will  find  in  Me.' 

And  it  is  very  significant  in  this  connection  that  the 
designation  occurs  more  frequently  in  the  first  three 
Gospels  than  in  the  fourth ;  which  is  alleged  to  present 
higher  notions  of  the  nature  and  personality  of  Jesus 
Christ  than  are  found  in  the  other  three.  There  are 
more  instances  in  Matthew's  Gospel  in  which  our  Lord 
calls  Himself  the  Son  of  Man,  with  all  the  implication  of 
uniqueness  and  completeness  which  that  name  carries ; 
there  are  more  even  in  the  Gospel  of  the  Servant,  the 
Gospel  according  to  Mark,  than  in  the  Gospel  of  the 
Word  of  God,  the  Gospel  according  to  John.  And  so  I 
think  we  are  entitled  to  say  that  by  this  name,  which 
the  testimony  of  all  our  four  Gospels  makes  it  certain, 
even  to  the  most  suspicious  reader,  that  Christ  applied 


V.34]  THE  SON  OF  MAN  157 

to  Himself,  He  declared  His  humanity,  His  absolutely 
perfect  and  complete  humanity. 

In  substance  He  is  claiming  the  same  thing  for  Him- 
self that  Paul  claimed  for  Him  when  he  called  Him  'the 
second  Adam.'  There  have  been  two  men  in  the  world, 
says  Paul,  the  fallen  Adam,  with  his  infantile  and 
undeveloped  perfections,  and  the  Christ,  with  His  full 
and  complete  humanity.  All  other  men  are  fragments, 
He  is  the  'entire  and  perfect  chrysolite.'  As  one  of 
our  epigrammatic  seventeenth-century  divines  has  it, 
'  Aristotle  is  but  the  rubbish  of  an  Adam,'  and  Adam  is 
but  the  dim  outline  sketch  of  a  Jesus.  Between  these 
two  there  has  been  none.  The  one  Man  as  God  meant 
him,  the  type  of  man,  the  perfect  humanity,  the  realised 
ideal,  the  home  of  all  the  powers  of  manhood,  is  He 
who  Himself  claimed  that  place  for  Himself,  and 
stepped  into  it  with  the  strange  words  upon  His  lips, 
'  I  am  meek  and  lowly  of  heart.' 

'  Who  is  this  Son  of  Man  ? '  Ah,  brethren  !  '  who  can 
bring  a  clean  thing  out  of  an  unclean  ?  Not  one.'  A 
perfect  Son  of  Man,  born  of  a  woman,  '  bone  of  our  bone 
and  flesh  of  our  flesh,'  must  be  more  than  a  Son  of  Man. 
And  that  moral  completeness  and  that  ideal  perfection 
in  all  the  faculties  and  parts  of  His  nature  which  drove 
the  betrayer  to  clash  down  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver  in 
the  sanctuary  in  despair  that '  he  had  betrayed  inno- 
cent blood  ' ;  which  made  Pilate  wash  his  hands  '  of  the 
blood  of  this  just  person ' ;  which  stopped  the  mouths 
of  the  adversaries  when  He  challenged  them  to  con- 
vince Him  of  sin,  and  which  all  the  world  ever  since  has 
recognised  and  honoured,  ought  surely  to  lead  us  to 
ask  the  question,  'Who  is  this  Son  of  Man?'  and  to 
answer  it,  as  I  pray  we  all  may  answer  it,  *  Thou  art  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God ! ' 


158  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN         [ch.xii. 

This  fact  of  His  absolute  completeness  invests  His 
work  with  an  altogether  unique  relationship  to  the  rest 
of  mankind.  And  so  we  find  the  name  employed  upon 
His  own  lips  in  connections  in  which  He  desires  to  set 
Himself  forth  as  the  single  and  solitary  medium  of  all 
blessing  and  salvation  to  the  world — as,  for  instance, 
'The  Son  of  Man  came  to  give  His  life  a  ransom  for  the 
many';  'Ye  shall  see  the  heavens  opened,  and  the 
angels  of  God  ascending  and  descending  on  the  Son  of 
Man.'  He  is  what  the  ladder  was  in  the  vision  to 
the  patriarch,  with  his  head  upon  the  stone  and  the 
Syrian  sky  over  him — the  Medium  of  all  communica- 
tion between  earth  and  heaven.  And  that  ladder  which 
joins  heaven  to  earth,  and  brings  all  angels  down  on 
the  solitary  watchers,  comes  straight  down,  as  the  sun- 
beams do,  to  every  man  wherever  he  is.  Each  of  us 
sees  the  shortest  line  from  his  own  standing-pl.ice  to 
the  central  light,  and  its  beams  come  straight  to  the 
apple  of  each  man's  eye.  So  because  Christ  is  more 
than  a  man,  because  He  is  the  Man,  His  blessings  come 
to  each  of  us  direct  and  straight,  as  if  they  had  been 
launched  from  the  throne  with  a  purpose  and  a  message 
to  us  alone.  Thus  He  who  is  in  Himself  perfect  man- 
hood touches  all  men,  and  all  men  touch  Him,  and  the 
Son  of  Man,  whom  God  hath  sealed,  will  give  to  every 
one  of  us  the  bread  from  heaven.  The  unique  relation- 
ship which  brings  Him  into  connection  with  every  soul 
of  man  upon  earth,  and  makes  Him  the  Saviour,  Helper, 
and  Friend  of  us  all,  is  expressed  when  He  calls  Himself 
the  Son  of  Man. 

III.  And  now  one  last  word  in  regard  to  the  predic- 
tive character  of  this  designation. 

Even  if  we  cannot  regard  it  as  being  actually  a  quota- 
tion of  the  prophecy  in  the  Book  of  Daniel,  there  is  an 


V.34]  THE  SON  OF  MAN  159 

evident  allusion  to  that  prophecy,  and  to  the  whole  circle 
of  ideas  presented  by  it,  of  an  everlasting  dominion, 
which  shall  destroy  all  antagonistic  power,  and  of  a 
solemn  coming  for  judgment  of  One  like  a  Son  of  Man. 

We  find,  then,  the  name  occurring  on  our  Lord's  lips 
very  frequently  in  that  class  of  passages  with  which  we 
are  so  familiar,  and  which  are  so  numerous  that  I  need 
not  quote  them  to  you ;  in  which  He  speaks  of  the 
second  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man;  as,  for  instance, 
that  one  which  connects  itself  most  distinctly  with  the 
Book  of  Daniel,  the  words  of  high  solemn  import  before 
the  tribunal  of  the  High  Priest.  'Hereafter  shall  ye 
see  the  Son  of  Man  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  power, 
and  coming  in  the  glories  of  heaven';  or  as  when  He 
says,  'He  hath  given  Him  authority  to  execute  judg- 
ment also  because  He  is  the  Son  of  Man ' ;  or  as  when 
the  proto-martyr,  with  his  last  words,  declared  in 
sudden  burst  of  surprise  and  thrill  of  gladness,  '  I  see 
the  heavens  opened,  and  the  Son  of  Man  standing  at 
the  right  hand  of  God.' 

Two  thoughts  are  all  that  I  can  touch  on  here.  The 
name  carries  with  it  a  blessed  message  of  the  present  ac- 
tivity and  perpetual  manhood  of  the  risen  Lord.  Stephen 
does  not  see  Him  as  all  the  rest  of  Scripture  paints  Him, 
sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  but  standing  there. 
The  emblem  of  His  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  God 
represents  triumphant  calmness  in  the  undisturbed 
confidence  of  victory.  It  declares  the  completeness  of 
the  work  that  He  has  done  upon  earth,  and  that  all  the 
history  of  the  future  is  but  the  unfolding  of  the  conse- 
quences of  that  work  which  by  His  own  testimony  was 
finished  when  He  bowed  His  head  and  died.  But  the 
dying  martyr  sees  him  standing,  as  if  He  had  sprung  to 
His  feet  in  response  to  the  cry  of  faith  from  the  first  of 


160  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN         [ch.xii. 

the  long  train  of  sufferers.  It  is  as  if  the  Emperor  upon 
His  seat,  looking  down  upon  the  arena  where  the  gladi- 
ators are  contending  to  the  death,  could  not  sit  quiet 
amongst  the  flashing  axes  of  the  lictors  and  the  purple 
curtains  of  His  throne,  and  see  their  death-struggles, 
but  must  spring  to  His  feet  to  help  them,  or  at  least 
bend  down  with  the  look  and  with  the  reality  of  sym- 
pathy. So  Christ,  the  Son  of  Man,  bearing  His  man- 
hood with  Him, 

*  Still  bends  on  earth  a  Brother's  eye,* 

and  19  the  ever-present  Helper  of  all  struggling  souls 
that  put  their  trust  in  Him. 

Then  as  to  the  other  and  main  thought  here  in  view 
— the  second  coming  of  that  perfect  Manhood  to  be  our 
Judge.  It  is  too  solemn  a  subject  for  human  lips  to  say 
much  about.  It  has  been  vulgarised,  and  the  power 
taken  out  of  it  by  many  well-meant  attempts  to  impress 
it  upon  men's  hearts.  But  that  coming  is  certain.  That 
manhood  could  not  end  its  relationship  to  us  with  the 
Cross,  nor  yet  with  the  slow,  solemn,  upward  progress 
which  bore  Him,  pouring  down  blessings,  up  into  the 
same  bright  cloud  that  had  dwelt  between  the  cherubim 
and  had  received  Him  into  its  mysterious  recesses  at 
the  Transfiguration.  That  He  should  come  again  is  the 
only  possible  completion  of  His  work. 

That  Judge  is  our  Brother.  So  in  the  deepest  sense 
we  are  tried  by  our  Peer.  Man's  knowledge  at  its 
highest  cannot  tell  the  moral  desert  of  anything  that 
any  man  does.  You  may  judge  action,  you  may 
sentence  for  breaches  of  law,  you  may  declare  a 
man  clear  of  any  blame  for  such,  but  for  any  one  to 
read  the  secrets  of  another  heart  is  beyond  human 
power ;  and  if  He  that  is  the  Judge  were  only  a  man 


V.  34]  THE  SON  OF  MAN  161 

there  would  be  wild  work,  and  many  a  blunder  in  the 
sentences  that  were  given.  But  when  we  think  that  it 
is  the  Son  of  Man  that  is  our  Judge,  then  we  know  that 
the  Omniscience  of  divinity,  that  ponders  the  hearts 
and  reads  the  motives,  will  be  all  blended  with  the 
tenderness  and  sympathy  of  humanity ;  that  we  shall 
be  judged  by  One  who  knows  all  our  frame,  not  only 
with  the  knowledge  of  a  Maker,  if  I  may  so  say,  as  from 
outside,  but  with  the  knowledge  of  a  possessor,  as  from 
within ;  that  we  shall  be  judged  by  One  who  has  fought 
and  conquered  in  all  temptations ;  and  most  blessed  of 
all,  that  we  shall  be  judged  by  One  with  whom  we  have 
only  to  plead  His  own  work  and  His  own  love  and  Hig 
Cross  that  we  may  stand  acquitted  before  His  throne. 

So,  brethren,  in  that  one  mighty  Name  all  the  past, 
present,  and  future  are  gathered  and  blended  together. 
In  the  past  His  Cross  fills  the  retrospect :  for  the  future 
there  rises  up,  white  and  solemn.  His  judgment  throne. 
*  The  Son  of  Man  is  come  to  give  His  life  a  ransom  for 
the  many ' ;  that  is  the  centre  point  of.  all  history.  The 
Son  of  Man  shall  come  to  judge  the  world  ;  that  is  the 
one  thought  that  fills  the  future.  Let  us  lay  hold  by 
true  faith  on  the  mighty  work  which  He  has  done  on 
the  Cross,  then  we  shall  rejoice  to  see  our  Brother  on 
the  throne,  when  the  'judgment  is  set  and  the  books 
are  opened.'  Oh,  friends,  cleave  to  Him  ever  in  trust 
and  love,  in  communion  and  imitation,  in  obedience 
and  confession,  that  ye  may  be  accounted  worthy  'to 
stand  before  the  Son  of  Man '  in  that  day  1 


VOL.  II. 


A  PARTING  WARNING 

'  Jesus  therefore  said  unto  them,  Yet  a  little  while  is  the  light  among  you.  Walk 
while  ye  have  the  light,  that  darkness  overtake  you  not :  and  he  that  walketh  in 
the  darkness  knoweth  not  whither  he  goeth.  While  ye  have  the  light,  believe  on 
the  light,  that  ye  may  become  sons  of  light.'— John  xii.  35,  36  (R.  V.). 

These  are  the  last  words  of  our  Lord's  public  ministry. 
He  afterwards  spoke  only  to  His  followers  in  the  sweet 
seclusion  of  the  sympathetic  home  at  Bethany,  and 
amid  the  sanctities  of  the  upper  chamber.  '  Yet  a  little 
while  am  I  with  you ' ; — the  sun  had  all  but  set.  Two 
days  more,  and  the  Cross  was  reared  on  Calvary,  but 
there  was  yet  time  to  turn  to  the  light.  And  so  His 
divine  charity  '  hoped  all  things,'  and  continued  to  plead 
with  those  who  had  so  long  rejected  Him.  As  befits  a 
last  appeal,  the  words  unveil  the  heart  of  Christ.  They 
are  solemn  with  warning,  radiant  with  promise,  almost 
beseeching  in  their  earnestness.  He  loves  too  well 
not  to  warn,  but  He  will  not  leave  the  bitterness  of 
threatening  as  a  last  savour  on  the  palate,  and  so  the 
lips,  into  which  grace  is  poured,  bade  farewell  to  His 
enemies  with  the  promise  and  the  hope  that  even  they 
may  become  '  the  sons  of  light.' 

The  solemnity  of  the  occasion,  then,  gives  great  force 
to  the  words ;  and  the  remembrance  of  it  sets  us  on  the 
right  track  for  estimating  their  significance.  Let  us 
see  what  lessons  for  us  there  may  be  in  Christ's  last 
words  to  the  world. 

I.  There  is,  first,  a  self -revelation. 

It  is  no  mere  grammatical  pedantry  that  draws  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  four  times  in  this  text  does  our 
Lord  employ  the  definite  article,  and  speak  of  '  the  light.' 
And  that  that  is  no  mere  accident  is  obvious  from 
the  fact  that,  in  the  last  clause  of  our  text,  where  the 

162 


vs.  35. 36]     A  PARTING  WARNING  163 

general  idea  of  light  is  all  that  is  meant  to  be  enii)hatic, 
the  article  is  omitted.  'Yet  a  little  while  is  the  light 
with  you ;  walk  while  ye  have  the  light.  .  .  .  While  ye 
have  the  light,  believe  in  the  light,  that  ye  may  be  the 
children  of  light.' 

So  then,  most  distinctly  here,  in  His  final  appeal  to 
the  world.  He  draws  back  the  curtain,  as  it  were,  takes 
away  the  shade  that  had  covered  the  lamp,  and  lets  one 
full  beam  stream  out  for  the  last  impression  that  He 
leaves.  Is  it  not  profoundly  significant  and  impressive 
that  then,  of  all  times,  over  and  over  again,  in  the 
compass  of  these  short  verses,  this  Galilean  peasant 
makes  the  tremendous  assertion  that  He  is  what  none 
other  can  be,  in  a  solitary  and  transcendent  sense,  the 
Light  of  Mankind  ?  Undismayed  by  universal  rejection, 
unfaltering  in  spite  of  the  curling  lips  of  incredulity 
and  scorn,  unbroken  by  the  near  approach  of  certain 
martyrdom.  He  presents  Himself  before  the  world  as 
its  Light.  Nothing  in  the  history  of  mad,  fanatical 
claims  to  inspiration  and  divine  authority  is  to  be 
compared  with  these  assertions  of  our  Lord.  He  is 
the  fontal  Source,  He  says,  of  all  illumination ;  He 
stands  before  the  whole  race,  and  claims  to  be  '  the 
Master-Light  of  all  our  seeing.'  Whatsoever  ideas  of 
clearness  of  knowledge,  of  rapture  of  joy,  of  whiteness 
of  purity,  are  symbolised  by  that  great  emblem.  He 
declares  that  He  manifests  them  all  to  men.  Others 
may  shine ;  but  they  are,  as  He  said,  '  lights  kindled,' 
and  therefore  '  burning.'  Others  may  shine,  but  they 
have  caught  their  radiance  from  Him.  All  teachers,  all 
helpers,  all  thinkers  draw  their  inspiration,  if  they  have 
any,  from  Him,  in  whom  was  life,  and  the  Life  was  the 
Light  of  men. 

There  has  been  blazing  in  the  heavens  of    late    a 


164  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xn. 

new  star,  that  burst  upon  astonished  astronomers  in 
a  void  spot ;  but  its  brilliancy,  though  far  transcending 
that  of  our  sun,  soon  began  to  wane,  and  before  long, 
apparently,  there  will  be  blackness  again  where  there 
was  blackness  before.  So  all  lights  but  His  are  tempo- 
rary as  well  as  derived,  and  men  '  willing  for  a  season 
to  rejoice '  in  the  fleeting  splendours,  and  to  listen  to 
the  teacher  of  a  day,  lose  the  illumination  of  his 
presence  and  guidance  of  his  thoughts  as  the  ages 
roll  on.  But  the  Light  is  '  not  for  an  age,  but  for  all 
time.' 

Now,  brethren,  this  is  Christ's  estimate  of  Himself. 
I  dwell  not  on  it  for  the  purpose  of  seeking  to  exhaust 
its  depth  of  significance.  In  it  there  lies  the  assertion 
that  He,  and  He  only,  is  the  source  of  all  valid  know- 
ledge of  the  deepest  sort  concerning  God  and  men, 
and  their  mutual  relations.  In  it  lie  the  assertion  that 
He,  and  He  only,  is  the  source  of  all  true  gladness 
that  may  blend  with  our  else  darkened  lives,  and  the 
further  assertion  that  from  Him,  and  from  Him  alone, 
can  flow  to  us  the  purity  that  shall  make  us  pure.  We 
have  to  turn  to  that  Man  close  by  His  Cross,  on  whom 
while  He  spoke  the  penumbra  of  the  eclipse  of  death 
was  beginning  to  show  itself,  and  to  say  to  Him  what 
the  Psalmist  said  of  old  to  the  Jehovah  whom  he  knew, 
and  whom  we  recognise  as  indwelling  in  Jesus :  '  With 
Thee  is  the  fountain  of  life.  Thou  makest  us  to  drink 
of  the  river  of  Thy  pleasures.  In  Thy  light  shall  we 
see  light.' 

So  Christ  thought  of  Himself ;  so  Christ  would  have 
us  to  think  of  Him.  And  it  becomes  a  question  for  us 
how,  if  we  refuse  to  accept  that  claim  of  a  solitary, 
underived,  eternal,  and  universal  power  of  illuminating 
mankind,  we  can  save  His  character  for  the  veneration 


vs.  35, 36]       A  PARTING  WARNING  165 

of  the  world.  We  cannot  go  picking  and  choosing 
amongst  the  Master's  words,  and  say  •  This  is  historical, 
and  that  mythical.'  We  cannot  select  some  of  them, 
and  leave  others  on  one  side.  You  must  take  the 
whole  Christ  if  you  take  any  Christ.  And  the  whole 
Christ  is  He  who,  within  sight  of  Calvary,  and  in  the 
face  of  all  but  universal  rejection,  lifted  up  His  voice, 
and,  as  His  valediction  to  the  world,  declared,  '  I  am 
the  Light  of  the  world.'  So  He  says  to  us.  Oh  that 
we  all  might  cast  ourselves  before  Him,  with  the 
cry,  'Lighten  our  darkness,  O  Lord,  we  beseech 
Thee!' 

II.  Secondly,  we  have  here  a  double  exhortation. 

'  Walk  in  the  light ;  believe  in  the  light.'  These  two 
sum  up  all  our  duties;  or  rather,  unveil  for  us  the 
whole  fullness  of  the  possible  privileges  and  blessings 
of  which  our  relation  to  that  light  is  capable.  It  is 
obvious  that  the  latter  of  them  is  the  deeper  in  idea, 
and  the  prior  in  order  of  sequence.  There  must  be  the 
'belief  in  the  light  before  there  is  the  'walk'  in  the 
light.  Walking  includes  the  ideas  of  external  activity 
and  of  progress.  And  so,  putting  these  two  exhorta- 
tions together,  we  get  the  whole  of  Christianity  con- 
sidered as  subjective.  '  Believe  in  the  light ;  trust  in 
the  light,'  and  then  '  walk '  in  it.  A  word,  then,  about 
each  of  these  branches  of  this  double  exhortation. 

'  Trust  in  the  light.'  The  figure  seems  to  be  dropped 
at  first  sight ;  for  it  wants  little  faith  to  believe  in  the 
sunshine  at  midday;  and  when  the  light  is  pouring 
out,  how  can  a  man  but  see  it?  But  the  apparent 
incongruity  of  the  metaphor  points  to  something  very 
deep  in  regard  to  the  spiritual  side.  We  cannot  but 
believe  in  the  light  that  meets  the  eye  when  it  meets 
it,  but  it  is  possible  for  a  man  to  blind  himself  to  the 


166  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN         [ch.  xii. 

shining  of  this  light.  Therefore  the  exhortation  is 
needed — '  Believe  in  the  light,'  for  only  by  believing  it 
can  you  see  it.  Just  as  the  eye  is  the  organ  of  sight, 
just  as  its  nerves  are  sensitive  to  the  mysterious  finger 
of  the  beam,  just  as  on  its  mirroring  surface  impinges 
the  gentle  but  mighty  force  that  has  winged  its  way 
across  all  the  space  between  us  and  the  sun,  and  yet 
falls  without  hurting,  so  faith,  the  '  inward  eye  which 
makes  the  bliss '  of  the  solitary  soul,  is  the  one  organ 
by  which  you  and  I  can  see  the  light.  'Seeing  is 
believing,'  says  the  old  proverb.  That  is  true  in 
regard  to  the  physical.  Believing  is  seeing,  is  much 
rather  the  way  to  put  it  in  regard  to  the  spiritual  and 
divine. 

Only  as  we  trust  the  light  do  we  see  the  light. 
Unless  you  and  I  put  our  confidence  in  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Son  of  God  and  Son  of  Man,  we  have  no  adequate 
knowledge  of  Him  and  no  clear  vision  of  Him.  We 
must  know  that  we  may  love ;  but  we  must  love  that 
we  may  know.  We  must  believe  that  we  may  see. 
True,  we  must  see  that  we  may  believe,  but  the  pre- 
liminary vision  which  precedes  belief  is  slight  and 
dim  as  compared  with  the  solidity  and  the  depth  of 
assurance  with  which  we  apprehend  the  reality  and 
know  the  lustre  of  Him  whom  our  faith  has  grasped. 
You  will  never  know  the  glory  of  the  light,  nor  the 
sweetness  with  which  it  falls  upon  the  gazing  eye, 
until  you  turn  your  face  to  that  Master,  and  so  receive 
on  your  susceptible  and  waiting  heart  the  warmth  and 
the  radiance  which  He  only  can  bestow.  '  Believe  in 
the  light.'  Trust  it;  or  rather,  trust  Him  who  is  it. 
He  cannot  deceive.  This  light  from  heaven  can  never 
lead  astray.  Absolutely  we  may  rely  upon  it ;  uncondi- 
tionally we  must  follow  it.    Lean  upon  Him — to  take 


vs.  35, 36]       A  PARTING  WARNING  167 

another  metaphor — with  all  your  weight.  His  arm  is 
strong  to  bear  the  burden  of  our  weaknesses,  sorrows, 
and,  above  all,  our  sins.  'While  ye  have  light,  trust 
the  light.' 

But  then  that  is  not  enough.  Man,  with  his  double 
relations,  must  have  an  active  and  external  as  well  as 
an  inw^ard  and  contemplative  life.  And  so  our  Lord, 
side  by  side  with  the  exhortation  on  which  I  have 
been  touching,  puts  the  other  one,  '  Walk  in  the  light.' 
Your  inward  emotions,  however  deep  and  precious, 
however  real  the  affiance,  however  whole-hearted  the 
love,  are  maimed  and  stunted,  and  not  what  the  light 
requires,  unless  there  follows  upon  them  the  activity 
of  the  walk.  What  do  we  get  the  daylight  for?  To 
sit  and  gaze  at  it?  By  no  means;  but  that  it  may 
guide  us  upon  our  path  and  help  us  in  all  our  work. 
And  so  all  Christian  people  need  ever  to  remember 
that  Jesus  Christ  has  indissolubly  bound  together  these 
two  phases  of  our  relation  to  Him  as  the  light  of 
life — inward  and  blessed  contemplation  by  faith  and 
outward  practical  activity.  To  walk  is,  of  course,  the 
familiar  metaphor  for  the  external  life  of  man,  and 
all  our  deeds  are  to  be  in  conformity  with  the  Light, 
and  in  communion  with  Him.  This  is  the  deepest  desig- 
nation, perhaps,  of  the  true  character  of  a  Christian 
life  in  its  external  aspect — that  it  walks  in  Christ, 
doing  nothing  but  as  His  light  shines,  and  ever  bearing 
along  with  it  conscious  fellowship  with  Him  who  is 
thus  the  guiding  and  irradiating  and  gladdening  and 
sanctifying  life  of  our  lives.  '  Walk  in  the  light  as 
He  is  in  the  light.'  Our  days  fleet  and  change;  His 
are  stable  and  the  same.  For,  although  these  words 
which  I  have  quoted,  in  their  original  application  refer 
to  God  the  Father,  they  are  no  less  true  about  Him 


168  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xii. 

who  rests  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  and  is  one  light 
with  Him.  He  is  in  the  light.  We  may  approximate 
to  that  stable  and  calm  radiance,  even  though  our 
lives  are  passed  through  changing  scenes,  and  effort 
and  struggle  are  their  characteristics.  And  oh !  how 
blessed,  brother,  such  a  life  will  be,  all  gladdened  by 
the  unsetting  and  unclouded  sunshine  that  even  in 
the  shadiest  places  shines,  and  turns  the  darkness  of 
the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  into  solemn  light; 
teaching  gloom  to  glow  with  a  hidden  sun ! 

But  there  is  not  only  the  idea  of  activity  here,  there 
is  the  further  notion  of  progress.  Unless  Christian 
people  to  their  faith  add  work,  and  have  both  their 
faith  and  their  consequent  work  in  a  continual  con- 
dition of  progress  and  growth,  there  is  little  reason 
to  believe  that  they  apprehend  the  light  at  all.  If  you 
trust  the  light  you  will  walk  in  it;  and  if  your  days 
are  not  in  conformity  nor  in  communion  with  Him, 
and  are  not  advancing  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  central 
blaze,  then  it  becomes  you  to  ask  yourselves  whether 
you  have  verily  seen  at  all,  or  trusted  at  all,  •  the  Light 
of  life.' 

III.  Thirdly,  there  is  here  a  warning. 

'Walk  whilst  ye  have  the  light,  lest  the  darknesa 
come  upon  you.'  That  is  the  summing  up  of  the 
whole  history  of  that  stiff-necked  and  marvellous 
people.  For  what  has  all  the  history  of  Israel  been 
since  that  day  but  groping  in  the  wilderness  without 
any  pillar  of  fire  ?  But  there  is  more  than  that  in  it. 
Christ  gives  us  this  one  solemn  warning  of  what  falls 
on  us  if  we  turn  away  from  Him.  Rejected  light  is 
the  parent  of  the  densest  darkness,  and  the  man  who, 
having  the  light,  does  not  trust  it,  piles  around  himself 
thick  clouds  of  obscurity  and  gloom,  far  more  doleful 


vs.  35, 36]       A  PARTING  WARNING  169 

and  impenetrable  than  the  twilight  that  glimmers 
round  the  men  who  have  never  known  the  daylight 
of  revelation.  The  history  of  un-Christian  and  anti- 
Christian  Christendom  is  a  terrible  commentary  upon 
these  words  of  the  Master,  and  the  cries  that  we  hear 
all  round  us  to-day  from  men  who  will  not  follow  the 
light  of  Christ,  and  moan  or  boast  that  they  dwell  in 
agnostic  darkness,  tell  us  that,  of  all  the  eclipses  that 
can  fall  upon  heart  and  mind,  there  is  none  so  dismal 
or  thunderously  dark  as  that  of  the  men  who,  having 
seen  the  light  of  Christ  in  the  sky,  have  turned  from 
it  and  said,  'It  is  no  light,  it  is  only  a  mock  sun.' 
Brethren,  tempt  not  that  fate. 

And  if  Christian  men  and  women  do  not  advance  in 
their  knowledge  and  their  conformity,  like  clouds  of 
darkness  will  fall  upon  them.  None  is  so  hopeless  as 
the  unprogressive  Christian,  none  so  far  away  as  those 
who  have  been  brought  nigh  and  have  never  come 
any  nigher.  If  you  believe  the  light,  see  that  you 
growingly  trust  and  walk  in  it,  else  darkness  will 
come  upon  you,  and  you  will  not  know  whither 
you  go. 

IV.  And  lastly,  there  is  here  a  hope  and  a  promise. 
'  That  ye  may  be  the  sons  of  light.' 

Faith  and  obedience  turn  a  man  into  the  likeness  of 
that  in  which  he  trusts.  If  we  trust  Jesus  we  open 
our  hearts  to  Him ;  and  if  we  open  our  hearts  to  Him 
He  will  come  in.  If  you  are  in  a  darkened  room,  what 
have  you  to  do  in  order  to  have  it  filled  with  glad 
sunshine?  Open  the  shutters  and  pull  up  the  blinds, 
and  the  light  will  do  all  the  rest.  If  you  trust  the 
light,  it  will  rush  in  and  fill  every  crevice  and  cranny 
of  your  hearts.  Faith  and  obedience  will  mould  us, 
by  their  natural  effect,  into  the  resemblance  of  that  on 


170  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.  xiii. 

which  we  lean.  As  one  of  the  old  German  mystics 
said,  '  What  thou  lovest,  that  thou  dost  become.'  And 
it  is  blessedly  true.  The  same  principle  makes  Chris- 
tians like  Christ,  and  makes  idolaters  like  their  gods. 
'  They  that  make  them  are  like  unto  them ;  so  is  every 
one  that  trusteth  in  them,'  says  one  of  the  Psalms. 
'  They  followed  after  vanity  and  are  become  vain,'  says 
the  chronicler  of  Israel's  defections.  'We  with  un- 
veiled faces  beholding' — or  mirroring — 'the  glory  of 
the  Lord,  are  changed  into  the  same  image.'  Trust  the 
light  and  you  become  '  sons  of  the  light.' 

And  so,  dear  friends,  all  of  us  may  hope  that  by 
degrees,  as  the  reward  of  faith  and  of  walking,  we  still 
may  bear  the  image  of  the  heavenly,  even  here  on 
earth.  While  as  yet  we  only  believe  in  the  light,  we 
may  participate  in  its  transforming  power,  like  some 
far-off  planet  on  the  utmost  bounds  of  some  solar 
system,  that  receives  faint  and  small  supplies  of  light 
and  ^varmth,  through  a  thick  atmosphere  of  vapour, 
and  across  immeasurable  spaces.  But  we  have  the 
assurance  that  we  shall  be  carried  nearer  our  centre, 
and  then,  like  the  planets  that  are  closer  to  the  sun 
than  our  earth  is,  we  shall  feel  the  fuller  power  of 
the  heat,  and  be  saturated  with  the  glory  of  the  light. 
'We  shall  see  Him  as  He  is';  and  then  we  too  'shall 
blaze  forth  like  the  sun  in  the  kingdom  of  our  Father.' 


THE  LOVE  OF  THE  DEPARTING  CHRIST 

* .  .  .  When  Jesus  knew  that  His  hour  was  come  that  He  should  depart  out  of 
this  world  unto  the  Father,  having  loved  His  own  which  were  in  the  world,  He 
loved  them  unto  the  end.'— John  xiii.  1. 

The  latter  half    of    St.  John's   Gospel,  which  begins 
with  these  words,  is  the  Holy  of  Holies  of  the  New 


V.  1]  THE  DEPARTING  CHRIST  171 

Testament.  Nowhere  else  do  the  blended  lights  of 
our  Lord's  superhuman  dignity  and  human  tender- 
ness shine  with  such  lambent  brightness.  Nowhere 
else  is  His  speech  at  once  so  simple  and  so  deep.  No- 
where else  have  we  the  heart  of  God  so  unveiled  to 
us.  On  no  other  page,  even  of  the  Bible,  have  so 
many  eyes,  glistening  with  tears,  looked  and  had  the 
tears  dried.  The  immortal  words  which  Christ  spoke 
in  that  upper  chamber  are  His  highest  self-revelation 
in  speech,  even  as  the  Cross  to  which  they  led  up  is  His 
most  perfect  self-revelation  in  act. 

To  this  most  sacred  part  of  the  New  Testament  my 
text  is  the  introduction.  It  unveils  to  us  gleams  of 
Christ's  heart,  and  does  what  the  Evangelists  very 
seldom  venture  to  do,  viz.  gives  us  some  sort  of 
analysis  of  the  influences  which  then  determined  the 
flow  and  the  shape  of  our  Lord's  love. 

Many  good  commentators  prefer  to  read  the  last 
words  of  my  text,  'He  loved  them  unto  the  utter- 
most '  rather  than  '  unto  the  end ' — so  taking  them 
to  express  the  depth  and  degree  rather  than  the 
permanence  and  perpetuity  of  our  Lord's  love.  And 
that  seems  to  me  to  be  by  far  the  worthier  and 
the  nobler  meaning,  as  well  as  the  one  which  is 
borne  out  by  the  usual  signification  of  the  expression 
in  other  Greek  authors.  It  is  much  to  know  that  the 
emotions  of  these  last  moments  did  not  interrupt 
Christ's  love.  It  is  even  more  to  know  that  in  some 
sense  they  perfected  it,  giving  even  a  greater  vitality 
to  its  tenderness,  and  a  more  precious  sweetness  to 
its  manifestations.  So  understood,  the  words  explain 
for  us  why  it  was  that  in  the  sanctity  of  the  upper 
chamber  there  ensued  the  marvellous  act  of  the  foot- 
washing,  the  marvellous  discourses  which  follow,  and 


172  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.  xiii. 

the  climax  of  all,  that  High-priestly  prayer.  They 
give  utterance  to  a  love  which  Christ's  consciousness 
at  that  solemn  hour  tended  to  shapen  and  to  deepen. 

So,  under  the  Evangelist's  guidance,  we  may  venture 
to  gaze  at  least  a  little  way  into  these  depths,  and 
with  all  reverence  to  try  and  see  something  at  all 
events  of  the  fringe  and  surface  of  the  love  'which 
passeth  knowledge.'  'Jesus,  knowing  that  His  hour 
was  come,  that  He  should  depart  out  of  the  world 
unto  the  Father,  having  loved  His  own  which  were 
in  the  world,  loved  them  then  unto  the  uttermost.' 

My  object  will  be  best  accomplished  by  simply 
following  the  guidance  of  the  words  before  us,  and 
asking  you  to  look  first  at  that  love  as  a  love  which 
was  not  interrupted,  but  perfected  by  the  prospect  of 
separation. 

I.  It  would  take  us  much  too  far  away,  however 
interesting  the  contemplation  might  be,  to  dwell  with 
any  particularity  upon  our  Lord's  consciousness  as  it 
is  here  set  forth  in  that  '  He  knew  that  His  hour  was 
come,  that  He  should  depart  out  of  the  world  unto 
the  Father.'  But  I  can  scarcely  avoid  noticing,  though 
only  in  a  few  sentences,  the  salient  points  of  that 
Christ-consciousness  as  it  is  set  forth  here. 

'He  knew  that  His  hour  was  come.'  All  His  life 
was  passed  under  the  consciousness  of  a  divine  neces- 
sity laid  upon  Him,  to  which  He  lovingly  and  cheer- 
fully yielded  Himself.  On  His  lips  there  are  no  words 
more  significant,  and  few  more  frequent,  than  that 
divine  ' I  must ! '  'It  behoves  the  Son  of  Man '  to  do 
this,  that,  and  the  other— yielding  to  the  necessity 
imposed  by  the  Father's  will,  and  sealed  by  His  own 
loving  resolve  to  be  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  And 
in  like  manner,  all  through  His  life  He  declares  Him- 


v.l]  THE  DEPARTING  CHRIST  173 

self  conscious  of  the  hours  which  mark  the  several 
crises  and  stages  of  His  mission.  They  come  to  Him 
and  He  discerns  them.  No  external  power  can  coerce 
Him  to  any  act  till  the  hour  come.  No  external  power 
can  hinder  Him  from  the  act  when  it  comes.  When 
the  hour  strikes  He  hears  the  phantom  sound  of  the 
bell;  and,  hearing,  He  obeys.  And  thus,  at  the  last 
and  supreme  moment,  to  Him  it  dawned  unquestion- 
able and  irrevocable.  How  did  He  meet  it?  Whilst 
on  the  one  hand  there  was  the  shrinking  of  which 
we  have  such  pathetic  testimony  in  the  broken  prayer 
that  He  Himself  amended — *  Father !  save  Me  from  this 
hour.  .  .  .  Yet  for  this  cause  came  I  unto  this  hour,' 
— there  is  a  strange,  triumphant  joy,  blending  with 
the  shrinking,  that  the  decisive  hour  is  at  last  come. 

Mark,  too,  the  form  which  the  consciousness  took — 
not  that  now  the  hour  had  come  for  suffering  or  death 
or  bearing  the  sins  of  the  world — all  which  aspects  of 
it  were  nevertheless  present  to  Him,  as  we  know ;  but 
that  now  He  was  soon  to  leave  all  the  world  beneath 
Him  and  to  return  to  the  Father. 

The  terror,  the  agony,  the  shame,  the  mysterious 
burden  of  a  world's  sins  were  now  to  be  laid  upon 
Him — all  these  elements  are  submerged,  as  it  were, 
and  become  less  conspicuous  than  the  one  thought 
of  leaving  behind  all  the  limitations,  and  the  humilia- 
tions, and  the  compelled  association  with  evil  which, 
like  a  burning  brand  laid  upon  a  tender  skin,  was  an 
hourly  and  momentary  agony  to  Him,  and  soaring 
above  them  all,  unto  His  own  calm  home,  His  habita- 
tion from  eternity  with  the  Father,  as  He  had  been 
before  the  world  was.  How  strange  this  blending  of 
shrinking  and  of  eagerness,  of  sorrow  and  of  joy,  of 
human  trembling  consciousness  of  impending  death, 


174  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiii. 

and  of  triumphant  consciousness  of  the  approach  of 
the  hour  when  the  Son  of  Man,  even  in  His  bitterest 
agony  and  deepest  humiliation,  should,  paradoxically, 
be  glorified,  and  should  'leave  the  world  to  go  unto 
the  Father'! 

We  cannot  enter  with  any  particularity  or  depth 
into  this  marvellous  and  unique  consciousness,  but  it 
is  set  forth  here  —  and  that  is  the  point  to  which 
especially  I  desire  to  turn  your,  attention  —  as  the 
basis  and  the  reason  for  a  special  tenderness  soften- 
ing His  voice,  and  taking  possession  of  His  heart,  as 
He  thought  of  the  impending  separation. 

And  is  that  not  beautiful?  And  does  it  not  help 
us  to  realise  how  truly  '  bone  of  our  bone  and  flesh 
of  our  flesh,'  and  bearing  a  heart  thrilling  with  all 
innocent  human  emotions  that  divine  Saviour  was  ? 
We,  too,  have  known  what  it  is  to  feel,  because  of 
approaching  separation  from  dear  ones,  the  need  for 
a  tenderer  tenderness.  At  such  moments  the  masks 
of  use  and  wont  drop  away,  and  we  are  eager  to 
find  some  word,  to  put  our  whole  souls  into  some 
look,  our  whole  strength  into  one  clinging  embrace 
that  may  express  all  our  love,  and  may  be  a  joy  to 
two  hearts  for  ever  after  to  remember.  The  Master 
knew  that  longing,  and  felt  the  pain  of  separation; 
and  He,  too,  yielded  to  the  human  impulse  which 
makes  the  thought  of  parting  the  key  to  unlock  the 
hidden  chambers  of  the  most  jealously  guarded  heart, 
and  let  the  shyest  of  its  emotions  come  out  for  once 
into  the  daylight.  So,  'knowing  that  His  hour  was 
come.  He  loved  them  unto  the  uttermost.' 

But  there  is  not  only  in  this  a  wonderful  expression 
of  the  true  humanity  of  the  Christ,  but  along  with 
that    a    suggestion    of    something    more    sacred    and 


V.  1]         THE  DEPARTING  CHRIST  175 

deeper  still.  For  surely  amidst  all  the  parting  scenes 
that  the  world's  literature  has  enshrined,  aindst  all 
the  examples  of  self  -  oblivion  at  the  last  moment, 
when  a  martyr  has  been  the  comforter  of  his  weep- 
ing friends,  there  are  none  that  without  degradation 
to  this  can  be  set  by  the  side  of  this  supreme  and 
unique  instance  of  self-oblivion.  Did  not  Christ,  for 
the  sake  of  that  handful  of  poor  people,  first  and 
directly,  and  for  the  rest  of  us  afterwards,  of  course, 
secondarily  and  indirectly,  so  suppress  all  the  natural 
emotions  of  these  last  moments  as  that  their  absolute 
absence  is  unique  and  singular,  and  points  onwards 
to  something  more,  viz.  that  this  Man  who  was 
susceptible  of  all  human  affections,  and  loved  us  with 
a  love  which  is  not  merely  high  above  our  grasp, 
absolute,  perfect,  changeless  and  divine,  but  with  a  love 
like  our  own  human  affection,  had  also  more  than  a 
man's  heart  to  give  us,  and  gave  us  more,  when,  that 
He  might  comfort  and  sustain,  He  crushed  down  Him- 
self and  went  to  the  Cross  with  words  of  tenderness  and 
consolation  and  encouragement  for  others  upon  His 
lips  ?  Knowing  all  that  was  lying  before  Him,  He  was 
neither  absorbed  nor  confounded,  but  carried  a  heart 
at  leisure  to  love  even  then  '  unto  the  uttermost.' 

And  if  the  prospect  only  sharpened  and  perfected, 
nor  interrupted  for  one  instant  the  flow  of  His  love, 
the  reality  has  no  power  to  do  aught  else.  In  the 
glory,  when  He  reached  it,  He  poured  out  the  same 
loving  heart ;  and  to-day  He  looks  down  upon  us  with 
the  same  Face  that  bent  over  the  table  in  the  upper 
room,  and  the  same  tenderness  flows  to  us.  When 
John  saw  his  Master  next,  after  His  Ascension,  amidst 
the  glories  of  the  vision  in  his  rocky  Patmos,  though 
His  face  was  as  the  sun  shineth  in  his  strength,  it  was 


176  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.  xiii. 

the  old  face.  Though  His  hand  bore  the  stars  in  a 
cluster,  it  was  the  hand  that  had  been  pierced  with 
the  nails.  Though  the  breast  was  girded  with  the 
golden  girdle  of  sovereignty  and  of  priesthood,  it  was 
the  breast  on  which  John's  happy  head  had  lain ;  and 
though  the  '  Voice  was  as  the  sound  of  many  waters,' 
it  soothed  itself  to  a  murmur,  gentle  as  that  with 
which  the  tideless  sea  about  him  rippled  upon  the 
silvery  sand  when  He  said,  'Fear  not  ...  I  am  the 
First  and  the  Last.'  Knowing  that  He  goes  to  the 
Father,  He  loves  to  the  uttermost,  and  being  with  the 
Father,  He  still  so  loves. 

II.  And  now  I  must,  with  somewhat  less  of  detail, 
dwell  upon  the  other  points  which  this  text  brings  out 
for  us.  It  suggests  to  us  next  that  we  have  in  the  love 
of  Jesus  Christ  a  love  which  is  faithful  to  the  obliga- 
tions of  its  own  past. 

Having  loved.  He  loves.  Because  He  had  been  a 
certain  thing,  therefore  He  is  and  He  shall  be  that  same. 
That  is  an  argument  that  implies  divinity.  About  no- 
thing human  can  we  say  that  because  it  has  been  there- 
fore it  shall  be.  Alas !  about  much  that  is  human  we 
have  to  say  the  converse,  that  because  it  has  been,  there- 
fore it  will  cease  to  be.  And  though,  blessed  be  God !  they 
are  few  and  they  are  poor  who  have  had  no  experi- 
ence in  their  lives  of  human  hearts  whose  love  in  the 
past  has  been  such  that  it  manifestly  is  for  ever,  yet 
we  cannot  with  the  same  absolute  confidence  say  about 
one  another,  even  about  the  dearest,  *  Having  loved,  he 
loves.'  But  we  can  say  so  about  Christ.  There  is  no 
exhaustion  in  that  great  stream  that  pours  out  from 
His  heart;  no  diminution  in  its  flow. 

They  tell  us  that  the  central  light  of  our  system,  that 
great  sun  itself,  pouring    out  its    rays    exhausts  its 


V.  1]         THE  DEPARTING  CHRIST  177 

warmth,  and  were  it  not  continually  replenished,  must 
gradually,  and  even  though  continually  replenished, 
will  ultimately  cease  to  blaze,  and  be  a  dead,  cold 
mass  of  ashes.  But  this  central  Light,  this  heart  of 
Christ,  which  is  the  Sun  of  the  World,  will  endure 
like  the  sun,  and  after  the  sun  is  cold.  His  love  will 
last  for  ever.  He  pours  it  out  and  has  none  the  less 
to  give.  There  is  no  bankruptcy  in  His  expenditure, 
no  exhaustion  in  His  effort,  no  diminution  in  His 
stores.  'Thy  mercy  endureth  for  ever';  'Thou  hast 
loved,  therefore  Thou  wilt  love '  is  an  inference  for  time 
and  for  eternity,  on  which  we  may  build  and  rest 
secure. 

III.  Then,  still  further,  we  have  here  this  love  sug- 
gested as  being  a  love  which  has  special  tenderness 
towards  its  own.  'Having  loved  His  own.  He  loved 
them  to  the  uttermost.' 

These  poor  men  who,  with  all  their  errors,  did  cleave 
to  Him  ;  who,  in  some  dim  way,  understood  somewhat 
of  His  greatness  and  His  sweetness — and  do  you  and  I 
do  more? — who,  with  all  their  sins,  yet  were  true  to 
Him  in  the  main  ;  who  had  surrendered  very  much  to 
follow  Him,  and  had  identified  themselves  with  Him, 
were  they  to  have  no  special  place  in  His  heart  because 
in  that  heart  the  whole  world  lay?  Is  there  any  reason 
why  we  should  be  afraid  of  saying  that  the  universal 
love  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  gathers  into  His  bosom  all 
mankind,  does  fall  with  special  tenderness  and  sweet- 
ness upon  those  who  have  made  Him  theirs  and  have 
surrendered  themselves  to  be  His  ?  Surely  it  must  be 
that  He  has  special  nearness  to  those  who  love  Him ; 
surely  it  is  reasonable  that  He  should  have  special 
delight  in  those  who  try  to  resemble  Him  ;  surely  it  is 
only  what  one  might  expect  of  Him  that  He  should  in 
VOL.  II.  M 


178  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.  xiii. 

a  special  manner  honour  the  drafts,  so  to  s^eak,  of  those 
who  have  confidence  in  Him,  and  are  building  their 
whole  lives  upon  Him.  Surely,  because  the  sun  shines 
down  upon  dunghills  and  all  impurities,  that  is  no 
reason  why  it  should  not  lie  with  special  brightness  on 
the  polished  mirror  that  reflects  its  lustre.  Surely, 
because  Jesus  Christ  loves — Blessed  be  His  name ! — the 
publicans  and  the  harlots  and  the  outcasts  and  the 
sinners,  that  is  no  reason  why  He  should  not  bend  with 
special  tenderness  over  those  who,  loving  Him,  try  to 
serve  Him,  and  have  set  their  whole  hopes  upon  Him. 
The  rainbow  strides  across  the  sky,  but  there  is  a  rain- 
bow in  every  little  dewdrop  that  hangs  glistening  on 
the  blades  of  grass.  There  is  nothing  limited,  nothing 
sectional,  nothing  narrow  in  the  proclamation  of  a 
special  tenderness  of  Christ  towards  His  own,  when 
you  accompany  with  that  truth  this  other,  that  all  men 
are  besought  by  Him  to  come  into  that  circle  of  '  His 
own,'  and  that  only  they  themselves  shut  any  out 
therefrom.  Blessed  be  His  name !  the  whole  w^orld 
dwells  in  His  love,  but  there  is  an  inner  chamber  in 
which  He  discovers  all  His  heart  to  those  who  find  in 
that  heart  their  Heaven  and  their  all.  *  He  came  to  His 
own,'  in  the  wider  sense  of  the  word,  and  '  His  own 
received  Him  not';  but  also,  'having  loved  His  own  He 
loved  them  unto  the  end.'  There  are  textures  and 
lives  which  can  only  absorb  some  of  the  rays  of  light 
in  the  spectrum ;  some  that  are  only  capable  of  taking, 
so  to  speak,  the  violet  rays  of  judgment  and  of  wrath, 
and  some  who  open  their  hearts  for  the  ruddy  bright- 
ness at  the  other  end  of  the  line.  Do  you  see  to  it, 
brethren,  that  you  are  of  that  inner  circle  who  receive 
the  whole  Christ  into  their  hearts,  and  to  whom  He  can 
unfold  the  fullness  of  His  love. 


v.l]  THE  DEPARTING  CHRIST  179 

IV.  And,  lastly,  my  text  suggests  that  love  of  Christ 
as  being  made  sxDccially  tender  by  the  necessities  and 
the  dangers  of  His  friends.  '  He  loved  His  own  which 
were  in  the  world,'  and  so  loving  them,  'loved  them 
to  the  uttermost.' 

We  have,  running  through  these  precious  discourses 
which  follow  my  text,  many  allusions  to  the  separation 
which  was  to  ensue,  and  to  His  leaving  His  followers 
in  circumstances  of  peculiar  peril,  defenceless  and 
solitary.  '  I  come  unto  Thee,  and  am  no  more  in  the 
world,'  says  He  in  the  final  High-priestly  prayer,  '  but 
these  are  in  the  world.  Holy  Father,  keep  them 
through  Thine  own  name.'  The  same  contrast  between 
the  certain  security  of  the  Shepherd  and  the  troubled 
perils  of  the  scattered  flock  seems  to  be  in  the  words  of 
my  text,  and  suggests  a  sweet  and  blessed  reason  for 
the  special  tenderness  with  which  He  looked  upon  them. 
As  a  dying  father  on  his  deathbed  may  yearn  over 
orphans  that  he  is  leaving  defenceless,  so  Christ  is  here 
represented  as  conscious  of  an  accession  even  to  the 
tender  longings  of  His  heart,  when  He  thought  of  the 
loneliness  and  the  dangers  to  which  His  followers  were 
to  be  exposed. 

Ah !  It  seems  a  harsh  contrast  between  the  Em- 
peror, sitting  throned  there  between  the  purple  curtains, 
and  the  poor  athletes  wrestling  in  the  arena  below.  It 
seems  strange  to  think  that  a  loving  Master  has  gone 
up  into  the  mountain,  and  has  left  His  disciples  to  toil 
in  rowing  on  the  stormy  sea  of  life ;  but  the  contrast  is 
only  apparent.  For  you  and  I,  if  we  love  and  trust 
Him,  are  with  Him  '  in  the  heavenly  places '  even  whilst 
we  toil  here,  and  He  is  with  us,  working  with  us,  even 
whilst  He  '  sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of  God.' 

"We  may  be  sure  of  this,  brethren,  that  that  love  ever 


180  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.xiii. 

increases  its  manifestations  according  to  our  deepening 
necessities.  The  darker  the  night  the  more  lustrous 
the  stars.  The  deeper,  the  narrower,  the  savager,  the 
Alpine  gorge,  usually  the  fuller  and  the  swifter  the 
stream  that  runs  through  it.  And  the  more  that  enemies 
and  fears  gather  round  about  us,  the  sweeter  will  be  the 
accents  of  our  Comforter's  voice,  and  the  fuller  will  be 
the  gifts  of  tenderness  and  grace  with  which  He  draws 
near  to  us.  Our  sorrows,  dangers,  necessities,  are  doors 
through  which  His  love  can  come  nigh. 

So,  dear  friends,  we  have  had  experience  of  sweet 
and  transient  human  love ;  we  have  had  experience  of 
changeful  and  ineffectual  love ;  turn  away  from  them 
all  to  this  immortal,  deep  heart  of  Christ's,  welling  over 
with  a  love  which  no  change  can  affect,  which  no  separa- 
tion can  diminish,  which  no  sin  can  provoke,  which 
becomes  greater  and  tenderer  as  our  necessities  in- 
crease, and  ask  Him  to  fill  your  hearts  with  that,  that 
you  may  '  know  the  length  and  breadth  and  depth  and 
height  of  that  love  w^hich  passeth  knowledge,'  and  so 
*  be  filled  with  all  the  fullness  of  God.* 


THE  SERVANT-MASTER 

•  Jesas  knowing  that  the  Father  had  given  all  things  into  His  hands,  and  that 
He  was  come  from  God,  and  went  to  God  ;  He  riseth  from  supper,  and  laid  aside 
His  garments;  and  took  a  towel,  and  girded  Himself.  After  that  He  poureth 
water  into  a  basin,  and  began  to  wash  the  disciples'  feet,  and  to  wipe  them  with 
the  towel  wherewith  He  was  girded.' — John  xiii.  3-5. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  the  dispute  as  to  '  which 
was  the  greatest,'  which  broke  the  sanctities  of  the 
upper  chamber,  was  connected  with  the  unwillingness 
of  each  of  the  Apostles  to  perform  the  menial  office  of 
washing  the  feet  of  his  companions.    They  had  come  in 


vs.  3-5]        THE  SERVANT-MASTER  181 

from  Bethany,  and  needed  the  service.  But  apparently 
it  was  omitted,  and  although  we  can  scarcely  suppose 
that  the  transcendent  act  which  is  recorded  in  my  text 
was  performed  at  the  beginning  of  the  meal,  yet  I  think 
we  shall  not  be  wrong  if  we  see  in  it  a  reference  to  the 
neglected  service. 

The  Evangelist  who  tells  us  of  the  dispute,  and  does 
not  tell  us  of  the  foot-washing,  preserves  a  sentence 
which  finds  its  true  meaning  only  in  this  incident,  *  I 
am  among  you  as  He  that  serveth.'  And  although 
John  is  the  only  recorder  of  this  pathetic  incident, 
there  are  allusions  in  other  parts  of  Scripture  which 
seem  to  hint  at  it.  As,  for  instance,  when  Paul  speaks 
of  *  taking  upon  Him  the  form  of  a  servant ' ;  and  still 
more  strikingly  when  Peter  employs  the  remarkable 
word,  which  he  does  employ  in  his  exhortation,  '  Be  ye 
clothed  with  humility.'  For  the  word  rendered  there 
'  clothed '  occurs  only  in  that  one  place  in  Scripture,  and 
means  literally  the  putting  on  of  a  slave's  costume. 
One  can  scarcely  help,  then,  seeing  in  these  three  pas- 
sages to  which  I  have  referred  echoes  of  this  incident 
which  John  alone  preserves  to  us.  And  so  we  get  at 
once  a  hint  of  the  harmony  and  of  the  incompleteness 
of  the  Gospel  records. 

I.  Consider  the  motives  of  this  act. 

Now  that  is  ground  upon  which  the  Evangelists  very 
seldom  enter.  They  tell  us  what  Christ  did,  but  very 
rarely  do  they  give  us  any  glimpses  into  why  He  did 
it.  But  this  section  of  the  Gospel  is  remarkable  for 
its  full  and  careful  analysis  of  what  Christ's  impelling 
motives  were  in  the  final  acts  of  His  life.  How  did 
John  find  out  why  Christ  did  this  deed  ?  Perhaps  he 
who  had  '  leaned  upon  His  bosom  at  supper,'  and  was 
evidently  very  closely  associated  with  Him,  may,  in 


182  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.xiii. 

some  unrecorded  hour  of  intimate  communion  during 
the  forty  days  between  the  Resurrection  and  the  Ascen- 
sion, have  heard  from  the  Master  the  exposition  of  His 
motives.  But  more  probably,  I  think,  the  long  years  of 
growing  likeness  to  his  Lord,  and  of  meditation  upon 
the  depth  of  meaning  in  the  smallest  events  that  his 
faithful  memory  recalled,  taught  him  to  understand 
Christ's  purpose  and  motives.  '  The  secret  of  the  Lord  is 
with  them  that  fear  Him,'  and  the  liker  we  get  to  our 
Master  and  the  more  we  are  filled  with  His  Spirit,  the 
more  easy  will  it  be  for  us  to  divine  the  purpose  and 
the  motives  of  His  actions,  whether  as  they  are  recorded 
in  the  Scripture  or  as  they  come  to  us  in  the  experience 
of  daily  life. 

But,  passing  that  point,  I  desire  for  a  moment  to  fix 
your  attention  on  the  twofold  key  to  our  Lord's  action 
which  is  given  in  this  context.  There  is,  first  of  all,  in 
the  first  verse  of  the  chapter,  a  general  exposition  of 
what  was  uppermost  in  His  mind  and  heart  during  the 
whole  of  the  period  in  the  upper  room.  The  act  in  our 
text,  and  the  wonderful  words  which  follow  in  the 
subsequent  chapters,  crowned  by  that  great  interces- 
sory prayer,  seem  to  me  to  be  all  explained  for  us  by 
this  first  unveiling  of  His  motives.  '  When  Jesus  knew 
that  His  hour  was  come  that  He  should  depart  out  of 
this  world  unto  the  Father,  having  loved  His  own 
which  were  in  the  world,  He  loved  them  unto  the  end.' 

And  then  the  words  of  my  text,  which  apply  more 
specifically  to  the  single  incident  with  which  they  are 
brought  into  connection,  tell  us  in  addition  why  this 
one  manifestation  of  Christ's  love  was  given.  '  Know- 
ing that  the  Father  had  given  all  things  into  His  hands, 
and  that  He  was  come  from  God,  and  went  to  God.' 
There,  then,  are  two  explanations  of  motive,  the  one 


vs.  35]         THE  SERVANT-MASTER  183 

covering  a  wider  area  than  the  other,  but  both  con- 
verging on  the  incident  before  us. 

The  first  of  these  is  just  this — the  consciousness  of 
impending  separation  moved  Christ  to  a  more  than 
ordinarily  tender  manifestation  of  His  love.  For  the  ren- 
dering which  you  will  find  in  the  margin  of  the  Revised 
Version,  '  He  loved  them  to  the  uttermost,'  seems  to  me 
to  be  truer  to  the  Evangelist's  meaning  than  the  other, 
*  He  loved  them  unto  the  end.'  For  it  was  more  to  John's 
purpose  to  tell  us  that  the  shadow  of  the  Cross  only 
brought  to  the  surface  in  more  blessed  and  wonderful 
representation  the  deep  love  of  His  heart,  than  simply 
to  tell  us  that  that  shadow  did  not  stop  its  flow.  It  is 
much  to  know  that  all  through  His  sorrow  He  continued 
to  love ;  it  is  far  more  to  know  that  the  sorrow  sharp- 
ened its  poignancy,  and  deepened  its  depth,  and  made 
more  tender  its  tenderness. 

How  near  to  the  man  Christ  that  thought  brings  us ! 
Do  we  not  all  know  the  impulse  to  make  parting 
moments  tender  moments?  The  masks  of  use  and 
wont  drop  off ;  the  reticence  which  we,  perhaps  wisely, 
ordinarily  cultivate  in  regard  to  our  deepest  feelings 
melts  away.  We  yearn  to  condense  all  our  unspoken 
love  into  some  one  word,  act,  look,  or  embrace,  which  it 
may  afterwards  be  life  to  two  hearts  to  remember. 
And  Jesus  Christ  felt  this.  Because  He  was  going 
away  He  could  not  but  pour  out  Himself  yet  more  com- 
pletely than  in  the  ordinary  tenor  of  His  life.  The 
earthquake  lays  bare  hidden  veins  of  gold,  and  the 
heart  opens  itself  out  when  separation  impends.  We 
shall  never  understand  the  works  of  Jesus  Christ  if  we 
do  as  we  are  all  apt  to  do,  think  of  them  as  having  only 
a  didactic  and  doctrinal  purpose.  We  must  remember 
that  there  is  in  Him  the  true  play  of  a  human  heart, 


184  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.xiii. 

and  that  it  was  to  relieve  His  own  love,  as  well  as  to 
teach  these  men  their  duty,  that  He  rose  from  the 
supper,  and  prepared  Himself  to  wash  the  disciples' 
feet. 

Then,  on  the  other  hand,  the  other  motive  which  is 
brought  by  the  Evangelists  more  immediately  into  con- 
nection with  this  incident  is,  '  knowing  that  the  Father 
had  given  all  things  into  His  hands,  and  that  He  was 
come  from  God,  and  went  to  God.' 

The  consciousness  of  the  highest  dignity  impels  to 
the  lowliest  submission.  'All  things  given  into  His 
hands,'  means  universal  and  absolute  dominion.  '  That 
He  was  come  from  God,'  means  pre-existence,  voluntary 
incarnation,  an  eternal  divine  nature,  and  unbroken 
communion  with  the  Father.  '  That  He  went  to  God,' 
means  a  voluntary  departure  from  this  low  world,  and 
a  return  to  '  His  own  calm  home,  His  habitation  from 
eternity.' 

And,  gathered  all  together,  the  phrases  imply  His 
absolute  consciousness  of  His  divine  nature.  It  was 
that  that  sent  Him  with  the  towel  round  His  loins 
to  wash  the  foul  feet  of  the  pedestrians  who  had  come 
by  the  dusty  and  hot  way  from  Bethany,  and  through 
all  the  abominations  of  an  Eastern  city,  into  the  upper 
chamber. 

This  was  He  who  from  the  beginning  '  was  with  God, 
and  was  God.'  This  was  He  who  was  the  Lord  of  Death, 
Victor  over  the  grave.  This  was  He  who  by  His  own 
power  ascended  up  on  high,  and  reigns  on  the  throne  of 
the  universe  to-day.  This  was  He  whose  breast  the 
same  Evangelist  had  seen  before  he  wrote  his  Gospel, 
•girded  with  the  golden  girdle'  of  priesthood  and  of 
sovereignty;  and  holding,  in  the  hands  that  had  laid 
the  towel  on  the  disciples'  feet,  the  seven  stars. 


vs.  3-5]       THE  SERVANT-MASTER  185 

Oh,  brethren  1  if  we  believed  our  creeds,  how  our 
hearts  would  melt  with  wonder  and  awe  that  He  who 
was  so  high  stooped  so  low !  '  Knowing  that  He  came 
from  God,  and  went  to  God,'  and  that  even  when  He 
was  kneeling  there  before  these  men,  '  the  Father  had 
given  all  things  into  His  hands,'  what  did  He  do  ? 
Triumph?  Show  His  majesty?  Flash  His  power? 
Demand  service  ?  *  Girded  Himself  with  a  towel  and 
washed  His  disciples'  feet ' ! 

The  consciousness  of  loftiness  does  not  alone  avail 
to  explain  the  transcendent  lowliness.  You  need  the 
former  motive  to  be  joined  with  it,  because  it  is  only 
love  which  bends  loftiness  to  service,  and  turns  the  con- 
sciousness of  superiority  into  yearning  to  divest  one- 
self of  the  superiorities  that  separate,  and  to  emphasise 
the  emotions  which  unite. 

II.  The  detailed  completeness  of  the  act. 

The  remarkable  particularity  of  the  account  of  the 
stages  of  the  humiliation  suggests  the  eye-witness. 
John  carried  them  all  in  his  mind  ineffaceably,  and 
long,  long  years  after  that  memorable  hour  we  hear 
him  recalling  each  detail  of  the  scene.  We  can  see 
the  little  group  startled  by  the  disturbance  of  the 
order  of  the  meal  as  He  rose  from  the  table,  and  the 
hushed  wonder  and  the  open-lipped  expectation  with 
which  they  watched  to  see  what  the  next  step  would 
be.  He  rises  from  the  table  and  divests  Himself  of  the 
upper  garments  which  impeded  movement.  'What 
will  He  do  next  ? '  He  takes  the  basin,  standing  there 
to  be  ready  for  washing  the  apostles'  feet,  but  unused, 
and  not  even  filled  with  water.  He  fills  it  Himself, 
asking  none  to  help  Him.  He  girds  the  towel  round 
Him ;  and  then,  perhaps,  begins  with  the  betrayer ;  at 
any  rate,  not  with  Peter. 


186  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiii. 

Cannot  you  see  them,  as  they  look?  Do  not  you 
feel  the  solemnity  of  the  detailed  particular  account 
of  each  step  ? 

And  may  we  not  also  say  that  all  is  a  parable, 
or  illustration,  on  a  lower  level,  of  the  very  same 
principles  which  were  at  work  in  the  mightier  fact 
of  the  greater  condescension  of  His  *  becoming  flesh 
and  dwelling  among  us'?  He  'rose  from  the  table,' 
as  He  rose  from  His  place  in  'the  bosom  of  the 
Father.'  He  disturbed  the  meal  as  He  broke  the 
festivities  of  the  heavens.  He  divested  Himself  of 
His  garments,  as  'He  thought  not  equality  with 
God  a  thing  to  be  worn  eagerly';  and  'He  girded 
Himself  with  the  towel,'  as  He  put  on  the  weakness 
of  flesh.  Himself  He  filled  the  basin,  by  His  own  work 
providing  the  means  of  cleansing ;  and  Himself  applied 
the  cleansing  to  the  feet  of  those  who  were  with  Him. 
It  is  all  a  working  out  of  the  same  double  motive 
which  drew  Him  downwards  to  our  earth.  The  reason 
why  He  stooped,  with  His  hands  to  wash  the  disciples' 
feet,  is  the  same  as  the  reason  why  He  had  hands  to 
wash  with — viz.,  that  knowing  Himself  to  be  high  over 
all,  and  loving  all,  He  chose  to  become  one  with  us, 
that  we  might  become  like  unto  Him.  So  the  de- 
tails of  the  act  are  a  parable  of  His  incarnation  and 
death. 

III.  And  then,  still  further,  note  the  purpose  of  the 
deed. 

Now  although  I  have  said  that  we  never  rightly 
understand  our  Lord's  actions  if  we  are  always  looking 
for  dogmatic  or  doctrinal  purposes,  and  thinking  of 
them  rather  as  being  lectures,  and  sometimes  rebukes 
in  act,  than  as  being  the  outgush  of  His  emotions  and 
His  human-divine   nature,  yet  we  have  also  to  take 


VB  3-5]        THE  SERVANT-MASTER  187 

into  account  their  moral  and  spiritual  lessons.  His  acts 
are  \a  ords  and  His  words  are  acts.  And  although  the 
main  and  primary  purpose  of  this  incident,  in  so  far  as 
it  had  any  other  purpose  than  to  relieve  Christ's  own 
love  by  manifesting  itself,  and  to  comfort  the  disciples' 
hearts  by  the  tender  manifestation,  was  to  teach  them 
their  duty,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  yet  the  special 
aspect  of  cleansing,  which  comes  out  so  emphatically 
and  prominently  in  the  episode  of  Peter's  refusal,  is  to 
be  carried  all  along  through  the  interpretation  of  the 
incident.  This  was  the  reason  why  Jesus  Christ  came 
from  heaven  and  assumed  flesh,  and  this  was  the 
reason  why  Jesus  Christ,  assuming  flesh,  bowed  Himself 
to  this  menial  office — to  make  men  clean. 

I  venture  to  say  that  we  never  understand  Jesus 
Christ  and  His  work  until  we  recognise  this  as  its  pro- 
minent purpose,  to  cleanse  us  from  sin.  An  inadequate 
conception  of  what  we  need,  shallow,  superficial  views 
of  the  gravity  and  universality  and  obstinacy  of  the 
fact  of  sin,  are  an  impenetrable  veil  between  us 
and  all  real  understanding  of  Jesus  Christ.  There 
is  no  adequate  motive  for  such  an  astounding  fact 
as  the  incarnation  and  sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God, 
except  the  purpose  of  redeeming  the  world.  If  you 
do  not  believe  that  you — you  individually,  and  all  of 
us  your  brethren — need  to  be  cleansed,  you  will  find  it 
hard  to  believe  in  the  divinity  and  atonement  of  Jesus 
Christ.  If  you  have  been  down  into  the  depths  of  your 
own  heart,  and  found  out  what  tremendous,  diabolic 
power  your  own  evil  nature  and  sin  have  upon  you, 
then  you  will  not  be  content  with  anything  less  than 
the  incarnate  God  who  stoops  from  heaven  to  bear  the 
burden  of  your  sin,  and  to  take  it  all  away.  If  you 
want  to  understand  why  He  laid  aside  His  garments 


188  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiii. 

and  took  the  servile  form  of  our  manhood,  the  appeal 
of  man's  sin  to  His  love  and  the  answer  of  His  Divine 
condescension  are  the  only  explanation. 

Again,  let  me  remind  you  that  there  is  no  cleansing 
without  Christ.  Can  you  do  it  for  yourselves,  do  you 
think  ?  There  is  an  old  proverb,  '  One  hand  washes  the 
other.'  That  is  true  about  stains  on  the  flesh.  It  is 
not  true  about  stains  on  our  spirits.  Nobody  can  do  it 
for  us  but  Jesus  Christ  alone.  He  kneels  before  us, 
having  the  right  and  the  power  to  wash  us  because  He 
has  died  for  us.  Kings  of  England  used  to  touch  for 
'  the  king's  evil,'  and  lay  their  pure  fingers  upon  feculent 
masses  of  corruption.  Our  King's  touch  is  sovereign 
for  the  corruption  and  incipient  putrefaction  of  our 
sin ;  and  there  is  no  power  in  heaven  or  earth  that 
will  make  a  man  clean  except  the  power  of  Jesus 
Christ.    It  is  either  Jesus  Christ  or  filthiness. 

If  I  might  pass  from  my  text  for  one  moment,  I 
would  remind  you  of  the  episode  which  immediately 
follows,  and  suggest  that  if  Jesus  Christ  is  not  cleans- 
ing us  He  is  nothing  to  us.  '  If  I  wash  thee  not,  thou 
hast  no  part  in  Me.'  I  know,  of  course,  that  it  is 
possible  to  have  partial,  rudimentary,  and  sometimes 
reverent  conceptions  of  that  Lord  without  recognising 
in  Him  the  great  'Fountain  opened  for  sin  and  for 
uncleanness.'  But  I  am  sure  of  this,  that  there  is  no 
real,  living  possession  of  Jesus  Christ  such  as  men's 
souls  need,  and  such  as  will  outlast  the  disintegrating 
influences  of  death,  unless  it  be  such  a  possession  of  Him 
as  appropriates  for  its  own,  primarily.  His  cleansing 
power.  First  of  all  He  must  cleanse,  and  then  all  other 
aspects  of  His  glory,  and  gifts  of  His  grace,  will  pour 
into  our  hearts. 

No  understanding  of  Christ,  then,  without  the  recog* 


V3.3-5]        THE  SERVANT-MASTER  189 

nition  that  cleansing  is  the  purpose  and  the  vindication 
of  His  incarnation  and  sacrifice ;  no  cleansing  without 
Christ ;  no  Christ  worth  calling  by  the  name  without 
cleansing. 

IV.  And  so,  lastly,  note  the  pattern  in  this  act. 

You  will  remember  that  it  is  followed  by  solemn 
words  spoken  after  He  had  taken  His  garments  and 
resumed  His  place  at  the  table,  in  which  there  blended, 
in  the  most  wonderful  fashion,  the  consciousness  of 
authority,  both  as  Teacher  of  truth  and  as  Guide  of 
life,  and  the  sweetest  and  most  loving  lowliness.  In 
them  Jesus  prescribed  the  wonderful  act  of  His  con- 
descending love  and  cleansing  power  as  the  law  of  the 
Christian  life.  There  are  too  many  of  us  who  profess 
to  be  quite  willing  to  trust  to  Jesus  Christ  as  the 
Cleanser  of  our  souls  who  are  not  nearly  so  willing  to 
accept  His  Example  as  the  pattern  for  our  lives ;  and 
I  would  have  you  note,  as  an  extremely  remarkable 
point,  that  all  the  New  Testament  references  to  our 
Lord  as  being  our  Example  are  given  in  immediate 
connection  with  His  passion.  The  very  part  of  His  life 
which  we  generally  regard  as  being  most  absolutely 
unique  and  inimitable  is  the  fact  in  His  life  which 
Apostles  and  Evangelists  select  as  the  one  to  set  before 
us  for  our  example. 

Do  you  ask  if  any  man  can  copy  the  sufferings  of 
Jesus  Christ  ?  In  regard  to  their  virtue  and  efficacy. 
No.  In  regard  to  their  motive — in  one  aspect,  No ;  in 
another  aspect,  Yes.  In  regard  to  the  spirit  that 
impelled  Him  we  may  copy  Him.  The  smallest  trickle 
of  water  down  a  city  gutter  will  carve  out  of  the  mud 
at  its  side  little  banks  and  cliffs,  and  exhibit  aU  the 
phenomena  of  erosion  on  the  largest  scale,  as  the 
Mississippi  does  over  half  a  continent,  and  the  tiniest 


190  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.xiii. 

little  wave  in  a  basin  will  fall  into  the  same  curves  as 
the  billows  of  mid-ocean.  You  and  I,  in  our  little  lives, 
may  even  aspire  to  '  do  as  I  have  done  to  you.' 

The  true  use  of  superiority  is  service.  Noblesse 
oblige !  Rank,  wealth,  capacity,  talents,  all  things  are 
given  to  us  that  we  may  use  them  to  the  last  particle 
for  our  fellows.  Only  when  the  world  and  society 
have  awakened  to  that  great  truth  which  the  towel- 
girded,  kneeling  Christ  has  taught  us,  will  society  be 
organised  on  the  principles  that  God  meant. 

But,  further,  the  highest  form  of  service  is  to  cleanse. 
Cleansing  is  always  dirty  work  lov  the  cleaners,  as 
every  houfeemaid  knows.  You  cannot  make  people 
clean  by  scolding  them,  by  lecturing  them,  by  patronis- 
ing them.  You  have  to  go  down  into  the  filth  if  you 
mean  to  lift  them  out  of  it ;  and  leave  your  smelling- 
bottles  behind;  and  think  nothing  repulsive  if  your 
stooping  to  it  may  save  a  brother. 

The  only  way  by  w^hich  w^e  can  imitate  that  example 
is  by,  first  of  all,  participating  in  it  for  ourselves.  We 
must,  first  of  all,  have  the  Cross  as  our  trust,  before  it 
can  become  our  pattern  and  our  law^.  We  must  first  say, 
'  Lord !  not  my  feet  only,  but  also  my  hands  and  my 
head,'  and  then,  in  the  measure  in  which  w^e  ourselves 
have  received  the  cleansing  benediction,  we  shall  be 
impelled  and  able  to  lay  our  gentle  hands  on  foulness 
and  leprosy;  and  to  say  to  all  the  impure,  'Jesus 
Christ,  who  hath  cleansed  me,  makes  thee  clean.' 


THE  DISMISSAL  OF  JUDAS 

*.  .  .  Then  said  Jesus  unto  Judas,  That  thou  doest.  do  quickly.'— John  xiii.  27. 

When  our  Lord  gave  the  morsel,  dipped  in  the  dish,  to 
Judas,  only  John  knew  the  significance  of  the  act.    But 


V.27]       THE  DISMISSAL  OF  JUDAS        191 

if  we  supplement  the  narrative  here  with  that  given  by 
Matthew,  we  shall  find  that,  accompanying  the  gift  of 
the  sop,  was  a  brief  dialogue  in  which  the  betrayer, 
with  unabashed  front,  hypocritically  said,  *  Lord !  Is  it 
I  ? '  and  heard  the  solemn,  sad  answer,  '  Thou  sayest ! ' 
Two  things,  then,  appealed  to  him  at  the  naoment :  one, 
the  conviction  that  he  was  discovered ;  the  other,  the 
wonderful  assurance  that  he  was  still  loved,  for  the 
gift  of  the  morsel  was  a  token  of  friendliness.  He  shut 
his  heart  against  them  both ;  and  as  he  shut  his  heart 
against  Christ  he  opened  it  to  the  devil.  So  '  after  the 
sop  Satan  entered  into  him.'  At  that  moment  a  soul 
committed  suicide ;  and  none  of  those  that  sat  by,  with 
the  exception  of  Christ  and  the  'disciple  whom  He 
loved,'  so  much  as  dreamed  of  the  tragedy  going  on 
before  their  eyes. 

I  know  not  that  there  are  anywhere  words  more 
weighty  and  wonderful  than  those  of  our  text.  And 
I  desire  to  try  if  I  can  at  all  make  you  feel  as  I  feel, 
their  solemn  signification  and  force.  '  That  thou  doest, 
do  quickly.' 

I.  I  hear  in  them,  first,  the  voice  of  despairing  love 
abandoning  the  conflict. 

If  I  have  rightly  construed  the  meaning  of  the  in- 
cident, this  is  the  plain  meaning  of  it.  And  you  will 
observe  that  the  Revised  Version,  more  accurately  and 
closely  rendering  the  words  of  our  text,  begins  with  a 
'  Therefore'  '  Therefore  said  Jesus  unto  him,'  because 
the  die  was  cast;  because  the  will  of  Judas  had  con- 
clusively welcomed  Satan,  and  conclusively  rejected 
Christ;  therefore,  knowing  that  remonstrance  was 
vaiii,  knowing  that  ohe  deed  was,  in  effect,  done,  Jesua 
Christ,  that  Incarnate  Charity  which  'believeth  all 
things,  and  hopeth  all  things,'  abandoned  the  man  to 


192  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.xiii. 

himself,  and  said,  *  There,  then,  if  thou  wilt  thou  must. 
I  have  done  all  I  can ;  my  last  arrow  is  shot,  and  it  has 
missed  the  target.    That  thou  doest,  do  quickly.' 

There  is  a  world  of  solemn  meaning  in  that  one  little 
word  '  doest.'  It  teaches  us  the  old  lesson,  which  sense 
is  so  apt  to  forget,  that  the  true  actor  in  man's  deeds 
is  '  the  hidden  man  of  the  heart,'  and  that  when  it  has 
acted,  it  matters  comparatively  little  whether  the  mere 
tool  and  instrument  of  the  hands  or  of  the  other  organs 
have  carried  out  the  behest.  The  thing  is  done  before 
it  is  done  when  the  man  has  resolved,  with  a  fixed  will, 
to  do  it.  The  betrayal  was  as  good  as  in  process,  though 
no  step  beyond  the  introductory  ones,  which  could  easily 
have  been  cancelled,  had  yet  been  accomplished.  Be- 
cause there  was  a  fixed  purpose  which  could  not  be 
altered  by  anything  now,  therefore  Jesus  Christ  regards 
the  act  as  completed.  It  is  what  we  think  in  our  hearts 
that  we  are ;  and  our  fixed  determinations,  our  inclina- 
tions of  will,  are  far  more  truly  our  doings  than  the 
mere  consequences  of  these,  embodied  in  actuality.  It 
is  but  a  poor  estimate  of  a  man  that  judges  him  by  the 
test  of  what  he  has  done.  What  he  has  wanted  to  do  is 
the  true  man ;  what  he  has  attempted  to  do.  '  It  was 
well  that  it  was  in  thine  heart ! '  saith  God  to  the  king 
who  thought  of  building  the  Temple  which  he  was 
never  allowed  to  rear.  '  It  is  ill  that  is  in  thine  heart,* 
says  He  by  whom  actions  are  weighed,  to  the  sinner 
in  purpose,  though  his  clean  hands  lie  idly  in  his  lap. 
These  hidden  movements  of  desii-e  and  will  that  never 
come  to  the  surface  are  our  true  selves.  Look  after 
them,  and  the  deeds  will  take  care  of  themselves. 
Serpent's  eggs  have  serpents  in  them.  And  he  that 
has  determined  upon  a  sin  has  done  the  sin,  whether 
his  hands  have  been  put  to  it  or  no. 


V.27]       THE  DISMISSAL  OF  JUDAS        193 

But,  then,  turn  for  a  moment  to  the  other  thought 
that  is  suggested  here — that  solemn  picture  of  a  soul 
left  to  do  as  it  will,  because  divine  love  has  no  other 
restraints  which  it  can  impose,  and  is  bankrupt  of 
motives  that  it  can  adduce  to  prevent  it  from  its 
madness.  Now  I  do  not  believe,  for  my  part,  that 
any  man  in  this  world  is  so  all-round  '  sold  unto  sin ' 
as  that  the  seeking  love  of  God  gives  him  up  as  irre- 
claimable. I  do  not  believe  that  there  are  any  people 
concerning  whom  it  is  true  that  it  is  impossible  for  the 
grace  of  God  to  find  some  chink  and  cranny  in  their 
souls  through  which  it  can  enter  and  change  them. 
There  are  no  hopeless  cases  as  long  as  men  are  here. 
But,  then,  though  there  may  not  be  so,  in  regard  to 
the  whole  sweep  of  the  man's  nature,  yet  every  one  of 
us,  over  and  over  again,  has  known  what  it  is  to  come 
exactly  into  that  position  in  regard  to  some  single  evil 
or  other,  concerning  which  we  have  so  set  our  teeth 
and  planted  our  feet  at  such  an  angle  of  resistance  as 
that  God  gives  up  dealing  with  us  and  leaves  us,  as 
He  did  with  Balaam  when  He  opposed  his  covetous 
inclinations  to  all  the  remonstrances  of  Heaven.  God 
said  at  last  to  him  '  Go ! '  because  it  was  the  best  way 
to  teach  him  what  a  fool  he  had  been  in  wanting  to 
go.  Thus,  when  we  determine  to  set  ourselves  against 
the  pleadings  and  the  beseechings  of  divine  love,  the 
truest  kindness  is  to  fling  the  reins  upon  our  necks, 
and  let  us  gallop  ourselves  into  a  sweat  and  weariness, 
and  then  we  shall  be  more  amenable  to  the  touch  of  the 
rein  thereafter. 

Are  there  any  people  whom  God  is  teaching  obedience 
to  His  light  touch,  by  letting  them  run  their  course  after 
some  one  specific  sin  ?  Perhaps  there  are.  At  all  events, 
let  us  remember  that  that  position  of  being  allowed  to 

VOL.  II.  N 


194  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.xiii. 

do  as  we  like  is  one  to  which  we  all  tend,  in  the  measure 
in  which  we  indulge  our  inclinations,  and  shut  our 
hearts  against  God's  pleadings.  There  is  such  a  thing 
as  a  conscience  seared  as  with  a  hot  iron.  They  used 
to  say  that  there  were  witches'  marks  on  the  body, 
places  where,  if  you  stuck  a  pin  in,  there  was  no 
feeling.  Men  cover  themselves  all  over  with  marks 
of  that  sort,  which  are  not  sensitive  even  to  the  prick 
of  a  divine  remonstrance,  rebuke,  or  retribution.  They 
'  wipe  their  mouths  and  say  I  have  done  no  harm,'  You 
can  tie  up  the  clapper  of  the  bell  that  swings  on  the 
black  rock,  on  which,  if  you  drift,  you  go  to  pieces. 
You  can  silence  the  Voice  by  the  simple  process  of 
neglecting  it.  Judas  set  his  teeth  against  two  things, 
the  solemn  conviction  that  Jesus  Christ  knew  his  sin, 
and  the  saving  assurance  that  Jesus  Christ  loved  him 
still.  And  whosoever  resists  either  of  these  two  is 
getting  perilously  near  to  the  point  where,  not  in 
petulance  but  in  pity,  God  will  say,  '  Very  well,  I  have 
called  and  ye  have  refused.  Now  go,  and  do  what  you 
want  to  do,  and  see  how  you  like  it  when  it  is  done. 
"What  thou  doest,  do  quickly.'  Do  you  remember  the 
other  word,  '  If  'timre  done  when  'tis  done,  then  'twere 
well  it  were  done  quickly '  ?  But  since  consequences  last 
when  deeds  are  past,  perhaps  you  had  better  halt  before 
you  determine  to  do  them. 

II.  Now,  secondly,  I  hear  in  these  words  the  voice  of 
strangely  blended  majesty  and  humiliation. 

'What  thou  doest,  do!'  Judas  thought  he  had  got 
possession  of  Christ's  person,  and  was  His  master  in 
a  very  real  sense.  When  lo !  all  at  once  the  victim 
assumes  the  position  of  the  Lord  and  commands, 
showing  the  traitor  that  instead  of  thwarting  and 
counterworking,  he  was  but  carrying  out  the  designs 


V.27]       THE  DISMISSAL  OF  JUDAS         195 

of  his  fancied  victim ;  and  that  he  was  an  instrument 
in  Christ's  hands  for  the  execution  of  His  will.  And 
these  two  thoughts,  how,  in  effect,  all  antagonism,  all 
malicious  hatred,  all  violent  opposition  of  every  sort 
but  work  in  with  Christ's  purpose,  and  carry  out  His 
intention;  and  how,  at  the  moments  of  deepest  ap- 
parent degradation.  He  towers,  in  manifest  Majesty 
and  Masterhood,  seem  to  me  to  be  plainly  taught  in 
the  word  before  us. 

He  uses  his  foes  for  the  furtherance  of  His  pur- 
pose. That  has  been  the  history  of  the  world  ever 
since.  '  The  floods,  O  Lord,  have  lifted  up  their  voice.' 
And  what  have  they  done?  Smashing  against  the 
breakwater,  they  but  consolidate  its  mighty  blocks, 
and  prove  that  *  the  Lord  on  high  is  mightier  than  the 
noise  of  many  waters.'  It  has  been  so  in  the  past,  it  is 
so  to-day;  it  will  be  so  till  the  end.  Every  Judas  is 
unconsciously  the  servant  of  Him  whom  he  seeks  to 
betray;  and  finds  out  to  his  bewilderment  that  what 
he  meant  for  a  death-blow  is  fulfilling  the  very 
purpose  and  will  of  the  Lord  against  whom  he  has 
turned. 

Again,  the  combination  here,  in  such  remarkable 
juxtaposition,  of  the  two  things,  a  willing  submission 
to  the  utmost  extremity  of  shame,  which  the  treasonous 
heart  can  froth  out  in  its  malice  and,  at  the  same 
time,  a  rising  up  in  conscious  majesty  and  lordship,  are 
suggested  to  us  by  the  words  before  us.  That  combina- 
tion of  utter  lowliness  and  transcendent  loftiness  runs 
through  the  whole  life  and  history  of  our  Lord.  Did 
you  ever  think  how  strong  an  argument  that  strange 
combination,  brought  out  so  inartificially  throughout 
the  whole  of  the  Gospels,  is  for  their  historical  ver- 
acity ?     Suppose  the  problem  had  been  given  to  poets 


196  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiii. 

to  create  and  to  set  in  a  series  of  appropriate  scenes  a 
character  with  these  two  opposites  stamped  equally 
upon  it,  neither  of  them  impinging  upon  the  domain 
of  the  other — viz.,  utter  humility  and  humiliation  in 
circumstance,  and  majestic  sovereignty  and  elevation 
above  all  circumstances — do  you  think  that  any  of 
them  could  have  solved  the  problem,  though  ^schylus 
and  Shakespeare  had  been  amongst  them,  as  these 
four  men  that  wrote  these  four  little  tracts  that  we 
call  Gospels  have  done  ?  How  comes  it  that  this  most 
difficult  of  literary  problems  has  been  so  triumphantly 
solved  by  these  men?  I  think  there  is  only  one 
answer,  'Because  they  were  reporters,  and  imagined 
nothing,  but  observed  everything,  and  repeated  what 
had  happened.'  He  reconciled  these  opposites  who  was 
the  Man  of  Sorrows  and  acquainted  with  grief,  and  yet 
the  Eternal  Son  of  the  Father;  and  the  Gospels  have 
solved  the  problem  only  because  they  are  simple 
records  of  its  solution  by  Him. 

Wherever  in  His  history  there  is  some  trait  of  lowli- 
ness there  is  by  the  side  of  it  a  flash  of  majesty. 
Wherever  in  His  history  there  is  some  gleaming  out 
from  the  veil  of  flesh  of  the  hidden  glory  of  divinity, 
there  is  immediately  some  drawing  of  the  veil 
across  the  glory.  And  the  two  things  do  not  contra- 
dict nor  confuse,  but  we  stand  before  that  double 
picture  of  a  Christ  betrayed  and  of  a  Christ  command- 
ing His  betrayer,  and  using  his  treason,  and  we  say, 
♦  The  Word  was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us.' 

III.  Again,  I  hear  the  voice  of  instinctive  human 
weakness. 

•That  thou  doest,  do  quickly.'  It  may  be  doubtful, 
and  some  of  you  perhaps  may  not  be  disposed  to  follow 
me  in  my  remark,  but  to  my  ear  that  sounds  just  like 


V.27]       THE  DISMISSAL  OF  JUDAS        197 

the  utterance  of  that  instinctive  dislike  of  suspense 
and  of  the  long  hanging  over  us  of  the  sword  by  a  hair, 
which  we  all  know  so  well.  Better  to  suffer  than  to 
wait  for  suffering.  The  loudest  thunder-crash  is  not 
so  awe-inspiring  as  the  dread  silence  of  nature  when 
the  sky  is  black  before  the  peal  rolls  through  the 
clouds.  Many  a  martyr  has  prayed  for  a  swift  ending 
of  his  troubles.  Many  a  sorrowing  heart,  that  has 
been  sitting  cowering  under  the  anticipation  of  coming 
evils,  has  wished  that  the  string  could  be  pulled,  as  it 
were,  and  they  could  all  come  down  in  one  cold  flood, 
and  be  done  with,  rather  than  trickle  drop  by  drop. 
They  tell  us  that  the  bravest  soldiers  dislike  the  five 
minutes  when  they  stand  in  rank  before  the  first  shot 
is  fired.  And  with  all  reverence  I  venture  to  think 
that  He  who  knew  all  our  weaknesses  in  so  far  as 
weakness  was  not  sin,  is  here  letting  us  see  how  He, 
too,  desired  that  the  evil  which  was  coming  might 
come  quickly,  and  that  the  painful  tension  of  expecta- 
tion might  be  as  brief  as  possible.  That  may  be  doubt- 
ful ;  I  do  not  dwell  upon  it,  but  I  suggest  it  for  your 
consideration. 

IV.  And  then  I  pass  on  to  the  last  of  the  tones  that  I 
hear  in  these  utterances — the  voice  of  the  willing 
Sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the  world. 

'That  thou  doest,  do  quickly.'  There  is  nothing 
more  obvious  throughout  the  whole  of  the  latter 
portion  of  the  Gospel  narrative  than  the  way  in  which, 
increasingly  towards  its  close,  Jesus  seemed  to  hasten 
to  the  Cross.  You  remember  His  own  sayings :  '  I  have 
a  baptism  to  be  baptized  with,  and  how  am  I  straitened 
till  it  be  accomplished.  I  am  come  to  cast  fire  on  the 
earth ;  would  it  were  already  kindled ! '  You  remem- 
ber with  what  a  strange  air — I  was  going  to  use  an 


198  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xhi. 

inappropriate  word,  and  say,  of  alacrity;  but,  at  all 
events,  of  fixed  resolve — He  journeyed  from  Galilee, 
in  that  last  solemn  march  to  Jerusalem,  and  hov^^  the 
disciples  followed,  astonished  at  the  unwonted  look  of 
decision  and  absorption  that  was  printed  upon  His  coun- 
tenance. If  we  consider  His  doings  in  that  last  week  in 
Jerusalem,  how  he  courted  publicity,  how  He  avoided  no 
encounter  with  His  official  enemies,  how  He  sharpened 
His  tones,  not  exactly  so  as  to  provoke,  but  certainly 
so  as  by  no  means  to  conciliate,  we  shall  see,  I  think, 
in  it  all,  His  consciousness  that  the  hour  had  come,  and 
His  absolute  readiness  and  willingness  to  be  offered 
for  the  world's  sin.  He  stretches  out  His  hands,  as  it 
were,  to  draw  the  Cross  nearer  to  Himself,  not  with  any 
share  in  the  weakness  of  a  fanatical  aspiration  after 
martyrdom,  but  under  a  far  deeper  and  more  wonderful 
impulse. 

Why  was  Christ  so  willing,  so  eager,  if  I  may  use  the 
word,  that  His  death  should  be  accomplished?  Two 
reasons,  which  at  the  bottom  are  one,  answer  the  ques- 
tion. He  thus  hastened  to  His  Cross  because  He  would 
obey  the  Father's  will,  and  because  He  loved  the  whole 
world — you  and  me  and  all  our  fellows.  We  were  each 
in  His  heart.  It  was  because  He  wanted  to  save  thee 
that  He  said  to  Judas,  'Do  it  quickly,  that  the  world's  sal- 
vation and  that  man's  salvation  may  be  accomplished.' 
These  were  the  cords  that  bound  Him  to  the  altar.  Let 
us  never  forget  that  Judas  with  his  treachery,  and  rulers 
with  their  hostility,  and  Pilate  with  his  authority,  and 
the  soldiers  with  their  nails,  and  centurions  with  their 
lances,  and  the  grim  figure  of  Death  itself  with  its 
shaft,  would  have  been  all  equally  powerless  against 
Christ  if  it  had  not  been  his  loving  will  to  die  on  the 
Cross  for  each  of  us. 


V.27]       THE  GLORY  OF  THE  CROSS         199 

Therefore,  brethren,  as  we  hear  this  voice,  let  us 
discern  in  it  the  tones  which  warn  us  of  the  danger  of 
yielding  to  inclination  and  stifling  His  rebukes,  till  He 
abandons  us  for  the  moment  in  despair ;  let  us  hear  in  it 
the  pathetic  voice  of  a  Brother,  who  knows  all  our  weak- 
nesses and  has  felt  our  emotions ;  let  us  hear  the  voice 
of  Sovereign  Authority  which  uses  its  enemies  for  its 
purposes,  and  is  never  loftier  than  when  it  is  most  lowly, 
whose  Cross  is  His  throne  of  glory,  whose  exaltation 
is  His  deepest  humiliation,  and  let  us  hear  a  love  which, 
•discerning  each  of  us  through  all  the  ages  and  the 
crowds,  went  willingly  to  the  Cross  because  He  willed 
that  He  should  be  our  Saviour. 

And  seeing  that  time  is  short,  and  the  future  pre- 
carious, and  delay  may  darken  into  loss  and  rejection, 
let  us  take  these  words  as  spoken  to  us  in  another 
sense,  and  hear  in  them  the  warning  that  '  to-day,  if  we 
will  hear  His  voice,  we  harden  not  our  hearts,'  and 
when  He  says  to  us,  in  regard  to  repentance  and  faith, 
and  Christian  consecration  and  service,  'That  thou 
doest,  do  quickly,'  let  us  answer,  'I  made  haste  and 
delayed  not,  but  made  haste  to  keep  Thy  command- 
ments.' 


THE  GLORY  OF  THE  CROSS 

'  Therefore,  when  he  was  gone  out,  Jesus  said.  Now  is  the  Son  of  Man  glorified, 
and  God  is  glorified  in  Him.  If  God  be  glorified  in  Him,  God  shall  also  glorify 
Him  in  Himself,  and  shall  straightway  glorify  Him.'— John  xiii.  31,  32. 

There  is  something  very  weird  and  awful  in  the  brief 
note  of  time  with  which  the  Evangelist  sends  Judas  on 
his  dark  errand.  '  He  .  .  .  went  immediately  out,  and 
it  was  night.'  Into  the  darkness  that  dark  soul  went. 
That  hour  was  '  the  power  of  darkness,'  the  very  key- 


200  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xiii. 

stone  of  the  black  arch  of  man's  sin,  and  some  shadow 
of  it  fell  upon  the  soul  of  Christ  HimseK. 

In  immediate  connection  with  the  departure  of  the 
traitor  comes  this  singular  burst  of  triumph  in  our 
text.    The  Evangelist  emphasises  the   connection  by 
that :  '  Therefore,  when  he  was  gone  out,  Jesus  said.' 
There  is  a  wonderful  touch  of  truth  and  naturalness 
in  that  connection.    The  traitor  was  gone.    His  presence 
had  been  a  restraint ;  and  now  that  that '  spot  in  their 
feast  of  charity'  had  disappeared,  the  Master  felt  at 
ease;  and  like  some  stream,  out  of  the  bed  of  which 
a  black  rock  has  been  taken,  His  words  flow  more 
freely.    How  intensely  real  and  human  the  narrative 
becomes  when  we  see  that  Christ,  too,  felt  the  oppres- 
sion of  an  uncongenial  presence,  and  was  relieved  and 
glad  at  its  removal!      The  departure  of  the  traitor 
evoked  these  words  of  triumph  in  another  way,  too. 
At  his  going  away,  we  may  say,  the  match  was  lit 
that  was  to  be  applied  to  the  train.    He  had  gone  out 
on  his  dark  errand,  and  that  brought  the  Cross  within 
measurable  distance  of  our  Lord.    Out  of  a  new  sense 
of  its  nearness  He  speaks  here.    So  the  note  of  time 
not  only  explains  to  us  why  our  Lord  spoke,  but  puts 
us  on  the  right  track  for  understanding  His  words, 
and  makes  any  other  interpretation  of  them  than  one 
impossible.    What  Judas  went  to  do  was  the  beginning 
of  Christ's   glorifying.    We  have  here,  then,  a  triple 
glorification— the  Son  of  Man  glorified  in  His  Cross; 
God  glorified  in  the  Son  of  Man ;  and  the  Son  of  Man 
glorified  in  God.    Let  us  look  at  these  three  thoughts 
for  a  few  moments  now. 

I.  First,  we  have  here  the  Son  of  Man  glorified  in 
His  Cross. 
The  words  are  a  paradox.    Strange,  that  at  such  a 


vs.  31, 32]  THE  GLORY  OF  THE  CROSS     201 

moment,  when  there  rose  up  before  Christ  all  the 
vision  of  the  shame  and  the  suffering,  the  pain  and 
the  death,  and  the  mysterious  sense  of  abandonment, 
which  was  worse  than  them  all.  He  should  seem  to 
stretch  out  His  hands  to  bring  the  Cross  nearer  to 
Himself,  and  that  His  soul  should  fill  with  triumph ! 

There  is  a  double  aspect  under  which  our  Lord  re- 
garded His  sufferings.  On  the  one  hand  we  mark  in 
Him  an  unmistakable  shrinking  from  the  Cross,  the 
innocent  shrinking  of  His  manhood  expressed  in 
such  words  as  '  I  have  a  baptism  to  be  baptized  with, 
and  how  am  I  straitened  till  it  be  accomplished ' ;  and 
in  such  incidents  as  the  agony  in  Gethsemane.  And 
yet,  side  by  side  with  that,  not  overcome  by  it,  but 
not  overcoming  it,  there  is  the  opposite  feeling,  the 
reaching  out  almost  with  eagerness  to  bring  the  Cross 
nearer  to  Himself.  These  two  lie  close  by  each  other 
in  His  heart.  Like  the  pellucid  waters  of  the  Rhine 
and  the  turbid  stream  of  the  Moselle,  that  flow  side 
by  side  over  a  long  space,  neither  of  them  blending 
discernibly  with  the  other,  so  the  shrinking  and  the 
desire  were  contemporaneous  in  Christ's  mind.  Here 
we  have  the  triumphant  anticipation  rising  to  the 
surface,  and  conquering  for  a  time  the  shrinking. 

Why  did  Christ  think  of  His  Cross  as  a  glorifying  ? 
The  New  Testament  generally  represents  it  as  the 
very  lowest  point  of  His  degradation ;  John's  Gospel 
always  represents  it  as  the  very  highest  point  of  His 
glory.  And  the  two  things  are  both  true ;  just  as  the 
zenith  of  our  sky  is  the  nadir  of  the  sky  for  those  on 
the  other  side  of  the  world.  The  same  fact  which  in 
one  aspect  sounds  the  very  lowest  depth  of  Christ's 
humiliation,  in  another  aspect  is  the  very  highest  cul- 
minating point  of  His  glory. 


202  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.  xiii. 

How  did  the  Cross  glorify  Christ  ?  In  two  ways.  It 
was  the  revelation  of  His  heart ;  it  was  the  throne  of 
His  sovereign  power. 

It  was  the  revelation  of  His  heart.  All  his  life  long 
He  had  been  trying  to  tell  the  world  how  much  He 
loved  it.  His  love  had  been,  as  it  were,  filtered  by 
drops  through  His  words,  through  His  deeds,  through 
His  whole  demeanour  and  bearing;  but  in  His  death 
it  comes  in  a  flood,  and  pours  itself  upon  the  world. 
All  His  life  long  he  had  been  revealing  His  heart, 
through  the  narrow  rifts  of  His  deeds,  like  some  slender 
lancet  windows ;  but  in  His  death  all  the  barriers  are 
thrown  down,  and  the  brightness  blazes  out  upon  men. 
All  through  His  life  He  had  been  trying  to  communicate 
His  love  to  the  world,  and  the  fragrance  came  from 
the  box  of  ointment  exceeding  precious,  but  when  the 
box  was  broken  the  house  was  filled  with  the  odour. 

For  Him  to  be  known  was  to  be  glorified.  So  pure 
and  perfect  was  He,  that  revelation  of  His  character 
and  glorification  of  Himself  were  one  and  the  same 
thing.  Because  His  Cross  reveals  to  the  world  for  all 
time,  and  for  eternity,  too,  a  love  which  shrinks  from 
no  sacrifice,  a  love  which  is  capable  of  the  most  entire 
abandonment,  a  love  which  is  diffused  over  the  whole 
surface  of  humanity  and  through  all  the  ages,  a  love 
which  comes  laden  with  the  richest  and  the  highest 
gifts,  even  the  turning  of  selfish  and  sinful  hearts  into 
its  own  pure  and  perfect  likeness,  therefore  does  He 
say,  in  contemplation  of  that  Cross  which  was  to 
reveal  Him  for  what  He  was  to  the  world,  and  to 
bring  His  love  to  every  one  of  us,  '  Now  is  the  Son  of 
Man  glorified.' 

We  can  fancy  a  mother,  for  instance,  in  the  anticipa- 
tion of  shame,  and  ignominy,  and  suffering,  and  sorrow, 


vs.  31.  32]  THE  GLORY  OF  THE  CROSS     203 

and  death  which  she  encounters  for  the  sake  of  some 
prodigal  child,  forgetting  all  the  ignominy,  and  the 
shame,  and  the  suffering,  and  the  sorrow,  and  the 
death,  because  all  these  are  absorbed  in  the  one 
thought:  'If  I  bear  them,  my  poor,  wandering,  re- 
bellious child  will  know  at  last  how  much  I  loved 
him.'  So  Christ  yearns  to  impart  the  knowledge  of 
Himself  to  us,  because  by  that  knowledge  we  may  be 
won  to  His  love  and  service;  and  hence  when  He 
looks  forward  to  the  agony,  and  contumely,  and  sorrow 
of  the  close,  every  other  thought  is  swallowed  up  in 
this  one :  '  They  will  be  the  means  by  w^hich  the  whole 
world  will  find  out  how  deep  my  heart  of  love  to  it 
was.'  Therefore  does  He  triumph  and  say,  'Now  is 
the  Son  of  Man  glorified.' 

Still  further,  He  regards  His  Cross  as  the  means  of 
His  glorifying,  because  it  is  His  throne  of  saving  power. 
The  paradoxical  words  of  our  text  rest  upon  His  pro- 
found conviction  that  in  His  death  He  was  about  to 
put  forth  a  mightier  and  diviner  power  than  ever  He 
had  manifested  in  His  life.  They  are  the  same  in  effect 
and  in  tone  as  the  great  words :'  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up, 
will  draw  all  men  unto  Me.'  Now  I  want  you  to  ask 
yourselves  one  question :  In  what  sense  is  Christ's  Cross 
Christ's  glorifying,  unless  His  Cross  bears  an  altogether 
different  relation  to  His  life  from  what  the  death  of 
a  great  teacher  or  benefactor  ordinarily  bears  to  his  ? 
It  is  impossible  that  Christ  could  have  spoken  such 
words  as  these  of  my  text  if  He  had  simply  thought 
of  His  death  as  a  Plato  or  a  John  Howard  might  have 
thought  of  his,  as  being  the  close  of  his  activity  for 
the  welfare  of  his  fellows.  Unless  Christ's  death  has 
in  it  some  substantive  value,  unless  it  is  something 
more  than  the  mere  termination  of  His  work  for  the 


204  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [oh.  xiii. 

world,  I  see  not  how  the  words  before  us  can  be  in- 
terpreted. If  His  death  is  His  glorifying,  it  must  be 
because  in  that  death  something  is  done  which  was 
not  completed  by  the  life,  however  fair ;  by  the  words, 
however  wise  and  tender;  by  the  works  of  power, 
however  restorative  and  healing.  Here  is  something 
more  than  these  present.  What  more?  This  more, 
that  His  Cross  is  the  *  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the 
whole  world.'  He  is  glorified  therein,  not  as  a  Socrates 
might  be  glorified  by  his  calm  and  noble  death;  not 
because  nothing  in  His  life  became  Him  better  than 
the  leaving  of  it;  not  because  the  page  that  tells  the 
story  of  His  passion  is  turned  to  by  us  as  the  tenderest 
and  most  sacred  in  the  world's  records;  but  because 
in  that  death  He  wrestled  with  and  overcame  our  foes, 
and  because,  like  the  Jewish  hero  of  old,  dying,  He 
pulled  down  the  house  which  our  tyrants  had  built, 
and  overwhelmed  them  in  its  ruins.  '  Now  is  the  Son 
of  Man  glorified.' 

And  so,  brethren,  there  blend,  in  that  last  act  of  our 
Lord's — for  His  death  was  His  act — in  strange  fashion, 
the  two  contradictory  ideas  of  glory  and  shame ;  like 
some  sky,  all  full  of  dark  thunderclouds,  and  yet  be- 
tween them  the  brightest  blue  and  the  blazing  sunshine. 
In  the  Cross,  Death  crowns  Him  the  Prince  of  Life,  and 
His  Cross  is  His  throne.  All  His  life  long  He  was  the 
Light  of  the  World,  but  the  very  noontide  hour  of  His 
glory  was  that  hour  when  the  shadow  of  eclipse  lay 
over  all  the  land,  and  He  hung  on  the  Cross  dying 
in  the  dark.  At  His  '  eventide  it  was  light.'  '  He  en- 
dured the  Cross,  despising  the  shame';  and  lo !  the  shame 
flashed  up  into  the  very  brightness  of  glory,  and  the 
ignominy  and  the  suffering  became  the  jewels  of  His 
crown.     '  Now  is  the  Son  of  Man  glorified.' 


vs.  31, 32]    THE  GLORY  OF  THE  CROSS    205 

II.  Now  let  us  turn  for  a  moment  to  the  second  of 
the  threefold  glorijfications  that  are  set  forth  here :  God 
glorified  in  the  Son  of  Man. 

The  mystery  deepens  as  we  advance.  That  God  should 
be  glorified  in  a  man  is  not  strange,  but  that  He  should 
be  so  glorified  in  the  eminent  and  special  fashion  which 
Jesus  contemplates  here,  is  strange ;  and  stranger  still 
when  we  think  that  the  act  in  which  He  was  to  be  glori- 
fied was  the  death  of  an  innocent  Man.  If  God,  in  any 
special  and  eminent  manner,  is  glorified  in  the  Cross  of 
Jesus  Christ,  that  implies,  as  it  seems  to  me,  two  things 
at  all  events — many  more  which  I  have  not  time  to 
touch  upon,  but  two  things  very  plainly.  One  is  that 
'  God  was  in  Christ,'  in  some  singular  and  eminent 
manner.  If  all  His  life  was  a  continual  manifestation 
of  the  divine  character,  if  Christ's  words  were  the 
divine  wisdom,  if  Christ's  compassion  was  the  divine 
pity,  if  Christ's  lowliness  was  the  divine  gentleness,  if 
His  whole  human  life  and  nature  were  the  brightest 
and  clearest  manifestation  to  the  world  of  what  God  is, 
we  can  understand  that  the  Cross  was  the  highest  point 
of  the  revelation  of  the  divine  nature  to  the  world,  and 
so  was  the  glorifying  of  God  in  Him.  But  if  we  take 
any  lower  view  of  the  relation  between  God  and  Christ, 
I  know  not  how  we  can  acquit  these  words  of  our 
Master  of  the  charge  of  being  a  world  too  wide  for  the 
facts  of  the  case. 

The  words  involve,  as  it  seems  to  me,  not  only  that 
idea  of  a  close,  unique  union  and  indwelling  of  God  in 
Christ,  but  they  involve  also  this  other:  that  these 
sufferings  bore  no  relation  to  the  deserts  of  the  person 
who  endured  them.  If  Christ,  with  His  pure  and 
perfect  character — the  innocency  and  nobleness  of 
which    all    that    read    the    Gospels    admit — if    Christ 


206  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiii. 

suffered  so ;  if  the  highest  virtue  that  was  ever  seen 
in  this  world  brought  no  better  wages  than  shame  and 
spitting  and  the  Cross;  if  Christ's  life  and  Christ's 
death  are  simply  a  typical  example  of  the  world's  treat- 
ment of  its  greatest  benefactors ;  then,  if  they  have 
any  bearing  at  all  on  the  character  of  God,  they  cast  a 
shadow  rather  than  a  light  upon  the  divine  govern- 
ment, and  become  not  the  least  formidable  of  the 
difficulties  and  knots  that  will  have  to  be  untied  here- 
after before  it  shall  be  clear  that  God  did  everything 
well.  But  if  we  can  say,  '  He  hath  borne  our  griefs  and 
carried  our  sorrows  ';  if  w^e  can  say,  '  God  was  in  Christ 
reconciling  the  world  to  Himself ';  if  we  can  say,  that 
His  death  was  the  death  of  Him  whom  God  had 
appointed  to  live  and  die  for  us,  and  '  to  bear  our  sins  in 
His  own  body  on  the  tree,'  then,  though  deep  mysteries 
come  with  the  thought,  still  we  can  see  that,  in  a  very 
unique  manner,  God  is  glorified  and  exalted  in  His 
death. 

For  if  the  dying  Christ  be  the  Son  of  God  dying 
for  us,  then  the  Cross  glorifies  God,  because  it  teaches 
us  that  the  glory  of  the  divine  character  is  the  divine 
love.  Of  wisdom,  or  of  pow^er,  or  of  any  of  the  more 
'  majestic '  attributes  of  the  divine  nature,  that  weak 
Man,  hanging  dying  on  the  Cross,  was  a  strange  em- 
bodiment ;  but  if  the  very  heart  of  the  divine  bright- 
ness be  the  pure  w^hite  fire  of  love ;  if  there  be  nothing 
diviner  in  God  than  His  giving  of  Himself  to  His 
creatures  ;  if  the  highest  glory  of  the  divine  nature  be 
to  pity  and  to  bestow,  then  the  Cross  upon  which  Christ 
died  towers  above  all  other  revelations  as  the  most 
awful,  the  most  sacred,  the  most  tender,  the  most  com- 
plete, the  most  heart-touching,  the  most  soul-subduing 
manifestation  of  the  divine    nature ;    and    stars    and 


vs.  31, 32]  THE  GLORY  OF  THE  CROSS     207 

worlds,  and  angels  and  mighty  creatures,  and  things  in 
the  heights  and  things  in  the  depths,  to  each  of  which 
have  been  entrusted  some  broken  syllables  of  the 
divine  character  to  make  known  to  the  world,  dwindle 
and  fade  before  the  brightness,  the  lambent,  gentle 
brightness  that  beams  out  from  the  Cross  of  Christ, 
which  proclaims — God  is  love,  is  pity,  is  pardon. 

And  is  it  not  so— is  it  not  so?  Is  not  the  thought 
that  has  flowed  from  Christ's  Cross  through  Christen- 
dom of  what  our  Father  in  Heaven  is,  the  highest  and 
the  most  blessed  that  the  world  has  ever  had?  Has 
it  not  scattered  doubts  that  lay  like  mountains  of  ice 
upon  man's  heart  ?  Has  it  not  swept  the  heavens  clear 
of  clouds  that  wrapped  it  in  darkness?  Has  it  not 
delivered  men  from  the  dreams  of  gods  angry,  gods 
capricious,  gods  vengeful,  gods  indifferent,  gods  simply 
mighty  and  vast  and  awful  and  unspeakable  ?  Has  it 
not  taught  us  that  love  is  God,  and  God  is  love ;  and  so 
brought  to  the  whole  w^orld  the  true  Gospel,  the  Gospel 
of  the  grace  of  God?  In  that  Cross  the  Father  is 
glorified. 

III.  Now,  lastly,  we  have  here  the  Son  of  Man  glori- 
fied in  the  Father. 

The  mysteries  and  the  paradoxes  seem  to  deepen 
as  we  advance.  *  If  God  be  glorified  in  Him,  God  shall 
also  glorify  Him  in  Himself,  and  shall  straightway 
glorify  Him.'  Do  these  words  sound  to  you  as  if  they 
expressed  no  more  than  the  confidence  of  a  good  man, 
who,  when  he  was  dying,  believed  that  he  would  be 
accepted  of  a  loving  Father,  and  would  be  at  rest  from 
his  sufferings  ?  To  me  they  seem  to  say  infinitely  more 
than  that.  *  He  shall  also  glorify  Him  in  Himself.' 
Mark  that  '  in  Himself.'  That  is  the  obvious  antithesis 
to  what  has  been  spoken  about  in  the  previous  clause, 


208  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiii. 

a  glorifying  which  consisted  in  a  manifestation  to  the 
external  universe,  whereas  this  is  a  glorifying  within 
the  depths  of  the  divine  nature.  And  the  best  com- 
mentary upon  it  is  our  Lord's  own  words:  'Father! 
glorify  Thou  Me  with  the  glory  which  I  had  with 
Thee  before  the  world  was.'  We  get  a  glimpse,  as 
it  were,  into  the  very  centre  of  the  brightness  of  God  ; 
and  there,  walking  in  that  beneficent  furnace,  we  see 
•  One  like  unto  the  Son  of  Man.'  Christ  anticipates  that, 
in  some  profound  and  unspeakable  sense.  He  shall,  as  it 
were,  be  caught  up  into  the  divinity,  and  shall  dwell,  as 
indeed  He  did  dwell  from  the  beginning, '  in  the  bosom 
of  the  Father.'    '  He  shall  glorify  Him  in  Himself.' 

But  then  mark,  still  further,  that  this  reception  into 
the  bosom  of  the  Father  is  given  to  the  Son  of  Man.  That 
is  to  say,  the  Man  Christ  Jesus,  the  Son  of  Mary,  the 
Brother  of  us  all,  •  bone  of  our  bone  and  flesh  of  our 
flesh,'  the  very  Person  that  walked  upon  earth  and 
dwelt  amongst  us  is  taken  up  into  the  heart  of  God, 
and  in  His  manhood  enters  into  that  same  glory,  which, 
from  the  beginning,  the  Eternal  Word  had  with  God. 

And  still  further,  not  only  have  we  here  set  forth,  in 
most  wondrous  language,  the  reception  and  incorpora- 
tion, if  we  may  use  such  words,  into  the  very  centre  of 
divinity,  as  granted  to  the  Son  of  Man,  but  we  have 
that  glorifying  set  forth  as  commencing  immediately 
upon  the  completion  of  God's  glorifying  by  Christ  upon 
the  Cross.  *  He  shall  straightway  glorify  Him.'  At  the 
instant  then,  that  He  said,  '  It  is  finished,'  and  all  that 
the  Cross  could  do  to  glorify  God  was  done,  at  that 
instant  there  began,  with  not  a  pin-point  of  interval 
between  them,  God's  glorifying  of  the  Son  in  Himself. 
It  began  in  that  Paradise  into  which  we  know  that 
upon  that  day  He  entered.    It  was  manifested  to  the 


vs.  31, 32]   THE  GLORY  OF  THE  CROSS     209 

world  when  He  'raised  Him  from  the  dead  and  gave 
Him  glory.'  It  reached  a  still  higher  point  when  '  they 
brought  Him  near  unto  the  Ancient  of  Days,'  and 
ascending  up  on  high,  a  dominion  and  a  throne  and 
a  glory  were  given  to  Him  which  last  now,  whilst  the 
Son  of  Man  sits  in  the  heavens  on  the  throne  of  His 
glory,  wielding  the  attributes  of  divinity,  and  adminis- 
tering the  laws  of  the  universe  and  the  mysteries  of 
providence.  It  shall  rise  to  its  highest  manifestation 
before  an  assembled  world,  when  He  '  shall  come  in  His 
glory,  and  before  Him  shall  be  gathered  all  nations.' 

This,  then,  was  the  vision  that  lay  before  the  Christ 
in  that  upper  room,  the  vision  of  Himself  glorified  in 
His  extreme  shame,  because  His  Cross  manifested  His 
love  and  His  saving  power ;  of  God  glorified  in  Him 
above  all  other  of  His  acts  of  manifestation  when  He 
died  on  the  Cross,  and  revealed  the  very  heart  of  God ; 
and  of  Himself  glorified  in  the  Father  when,  exalted 
high  above  all  creatures.  He  sitteth  upon  the  Father's 
throne  and  rules  the  Father's  realm. 

And  yet  from  that  high,  and,  to  us,  inaccessible  and 
all  but  inconceivable  summit  of  His  elevation.  He  looks 
down  ready  to  bless  each  poor  creature  here,  toiling 
and  moiling  amidst  sufferings,  and  meannesses,  and 
commonplaces,  and  monotony,  if  we  wdll  only  put  our 
trust  in  Him,  and  love  Him,  and  see  the  brightness  of 
the  Father's  face  in  Him.  He  cares  for  us  all ;  and  if 
we  will  but  take  Him  as  our  Saviour,  His  all-prevalent 
prayer,  presented  within  the  veil  for  us,  will  certainly 
be  fulfilled  at  last :  '  Father,  I  will  that  they  also  whom 
Thou  hast  given  Me  may  be  with  Me  where  I  am,  that 
they  may  behold  My  glory.* 


VOL.  II. 


CANNOT  AND  CAN 

'  Little  children,  yet  a  little  while  I  am  with  you.  Ye  shall  seek  Me :  and 
as  I  said  unto  the  Jews,  Whither  I  go  ye  cannot  come ;  so  now  I  say  to  you.'— 
John  xiii.  33. 

The  preceding  context  shows  how  large  and  black  the 
Cross  loomed  before  Jesus  now,  and  how  radiant  the 
glory  beyond  shone  out  to  Him.  But  it  was  only 
for  a  moment  that  either  of  these  two  absorbed  His 
thoughts;  and  with  wonderful  self-forgetfulness  and 
self-command,  He  turned  away  at  once  from  the  con- 
sideration of  how  the  near  future  was  to  affect  Him, 
to  the  thought  of  how  it  was  to  affect  the  handful 
of  helpless  disciples  who  had  to  be  left  alone.  Impend- 
ing separation  breaks  up  the  fountains  of  the  heart, 
and  we  all  know  the  instinct  that  desires  to  crowd 
all  the  often  hidden  love  into  some  one  last  token. 
So  here  our  Lord  addresses  His  disciples  by  a  name 
that  is  never  used  except  this  once,  'little  children,' 
a  fond  diminutive  that  not  only  reveals  an  unusual 
depth  of  tender  emotion,  but  also  breathes  a  pity- 
ing sense  of  their  defencelessness  when  they  are  to 
be  left  alone.  So  might  a  dying  mother  look  at  her 
little  ones. 

But  the  words  that  follow,  at  first  sight,  are  dark 
with  the  sense  of  a  final  and  complete  separation. 
*Ye  shall  seek  Me' — and  not  only  so,  but  He  seems 
to  put  back  His  humble  friends  into  the  same  place 
as  had  been  occupied  by  His  bitter  foes — 'as  I  said 
to  the  Jews,  whither  I  go  ye  cannot  come;  so  now 
I  say  to  you.'  There  was  something  that  prevented 
both  classes  alike  from  keeping  Him  company;  and 
He  had  to  walk  His  path  both  into  the  darkness  and 
into  the  glory,  alone. 

210 


V.33]  CANNOT  AND  CAN  211 

The  words  apply  in  their  fullness  only  to  the  paren- 
thesis of  time  whilst  He  lay  in  the  grave,  and  the 
disciples  despairingly  thought  that  all  was  ended.  It 
was  a  brief  period :  it  was  a  revolutionary  moment ; 
and  though  it  was  soon  to  end,  they  needed  to  be 
guarded  against  it.  But  though  the  words  do  not 
apply  to  the  permanent  relation  between  the  glorified 
Christ  and  us,  His  disciples,  yet  partly  by  similarity, 
and  still  more  by  contrast,  they  do  suggest  great 
Christian  blessedness  and  imperative  Christian  duties. 
These  gather  themselves  mainly  round  two  contrasts, 
a  transitory  'cannot'  soon  to  be  changed  into  a  per- 
manent '  can ' ;  and  a  momentary  seeking,  soon  to  be 
converted  into  a  blessed  seeking  which  finds.  I  now 
deal  only  with  the  former. 

We  have  here  a  transitory  'cannot'  soon  to  b^ 
changed  into  a  permanent  *  can.' 

'Whither  I  go  ye  cannot  come.'  Does  not  one  hear 
a  tone  of  personal  sorrow  in  that  saying  ?  Jesus  had 
always  hungered  for  understanding  and  sympathetic 
companions,  and  one  of  His  lifelong  sorrows  had  been 
His  utter  loneliness;  but  He  had  never,  in  all  the 
time  that  He  had  been  with  them,  so  put  out  His 
hand,  feeling  for  some  warm  clasp  of  a  human  hand 
to  help  Him  in  His  struggle,  as  He  did  during  the 
hours  terminating  with  Gethsemane.  And  perhaps 
we  may  venture  to  say  that  we  hear  in  this  utterance 
an  expression  of  Christ's  sorrow  for  Himself  that  He 
had  to  tread  the  dark  way,  and  to  pass  into  the  bright- 
ness beyond,  all  alone.  He  yearned  for  the  impossible 
human  companionship,  as  well  as  sorrowed  for  the 
imperfections  which  made  it  impossible. 

Why  was  it  that  they  could  not  '  follow  Him  now '  ? 
The  answer  to  that  question  is  found  in  the  considera- 


212  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.xiii. 

tion  of  whither  it  was  that  He  went.  When  that 
bright  Shekinah-cloud  at  the  Ascension  received  Him 
into  its  radiant  folds,  it  showed  why  they  could  not 
follow  Him,  because  it  revealed  that  He  went  unto 
the  Father,  when  He  left  the  world.  So  we  are 
brought  face  to  face  with  the  old,  solemn  thought 
that  character  makes  capacity  for  heaven.  'Who 
shall  ascend  into  the  hill  of  the  Lord,  or  who  shall 
stand  in  His  holy  place  ? '  asked  the  Psalmist ;  and  a 
prophet  put  the  question  in  a  still  sharper  form,  and 
by  the  very  form  of  the  question  suggested  a  negative 
answer — '  Who  among  us  shall  dwell  with  the  devour- 
ing fire;  who  among  us  shall  dwell  with  everlasting 
burnings  ? '  Who  can  pass  into  that  Presence,  and 
stand  near  God,  without  being,  like  the  maiden  in 
the  old  legend,  shrivelled  into  ashes  by  the  contact 
of  the  celestial  fire  ?  '  Holiness '  is  that  '  without 
which  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord.'  And  we,  all  of  us, 
in  the  depths  of  our  own  hearts,  if  we  rightly  under- 
stand the  voices  that  ever  echo  there,  must  feel  that 
the  condition  which  is,  obviously  and  without  any 
need  for  arguing  it,  required  for  abiding  with  God, 
and  so  going  into  the  glory  where  Christ  is,  is  a 
condition  which  none  of  us  can  fulfil.  In  that  respect 
the  imperfect  and  immature  friends,  the  little  children, 
the  babes  who  loved  and  yet  knew  not  Him  whom 
they  loved,  and  the  scowling  enemies,  were  at  one. 
For  they  had  all  of  them  the  one  human  heart,  and 
in  that  heart  the  deep-lying  alienation  and  contrariety 
to  God.  Therefore  Christ  trod  the  winepress  alone, 
and  alone  '  ascended  up  where  He  was  before.' 

But  let  us  remember  that  this  '  cannot '  was  only 
a  transitory  cannot.  For  we  must  underscore  very 
deeply  that  word  in  my  text  '  so  now  I  say  to  you,' 


V.  33]  CANNOT  AND  CAN  213 

and  a  moment  afterwards,  when  one  of  the  Apostles 
puts  the  question :  *  Why  cannot  I  follow  Thee  now  ? ' 
the  answer  is :  '  Thou  canst  not  follow  Me  now ;  but 
thou  shalt  follow  Me  afterwards.'  The  text,  too,  is 
succeeded  immediately  by  the  wonderful  parting  con- 
solations and  counsels  spoken  to  the  disciples,  through 
all  of  which  there  gleams  the  promise  that  they  will 
be  with  Him  where  He  is,  and  behold  His  glory. 
Set  side  by  side  with  these  sad  words  of  our  Lord 
in  the  text,  by  which  He  unloosed  their  clasping  hands 
from  Him,  and  turned  His  face  to  His  solitary  path,  the 
triumphant  language  in  which  habitually  the  rest  of  the 
New  Testament  speaks  of  the  Christian  man's  relation 
to  Christ.  Think  of  that  great  passage :  '  Ye  are  come 
unto  the  city  of  the  living  God,  the  heavenly  Jerusa- 
lem, .  .  .  and  to  God  the  Judge  of  all,  .  .  .  and  to  Jesus 
the  Mediator  of  the  new  Covenant.'  What  has  become 
of  th  e  impossibility  ?  Vanished.  Where  is  the  '  cannot '  ? 
Turned  into  a  blessed  'can.'  And  so  Apostles  have 
no  scruple  in  saying,  'Our  citizenship  is  in  Heaven,' 
nor  in  saying,  '  We  sit  together  with  Him  in  heavenly 
places  in  Christ  Jesus.'  The  path  that  was  blocked  is 
open.  The  impossibility  that  towered  up  like  a  great 
black  wall  has  melted  away;  and  the  path  into  the 
Holiest  of  all  is  made  patent  by  the  blood  of  Christ. 
For  in  that  death  there  lies  the  power  that  sweeps 
away  all  the  impediments  of  man's  sin,  and  in  that 
life  of  the  risen,  glorified,  indwelling  Christ  there  lies 
the  power  which  cleanses  the  inmost  heart  from  'all 
filth iness  of  flesh  and  spirit,'  and  makes  it  possible 
for  our  mortal  feet  to  walk  on  the  immortal  path, 
and  for  us,  with  all  our  unworthiness,  with  all  our 
shrinking,  to  stand  in  His  presence  and  not  be  ashamed 
or  consumed.    '  Ye  cannot  come '  was  true  for  a  few 


214  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.xiii. 

days.  '  Ye  can  come '  is  true  for  ever ;  and  for  all 
Christian  men. 

But  let  us  not  forget  that  the  one  attitude  of  heart 
and  mind,  by  which  a  poor,  sinful  man,  who  dare  not 
draw  near  to  God,  receives  into  himself  the  merit 
and  power  of  the  death,  and  the  indwelling  power  of 
the  life,  of  Jesus  Christ,  is  personal  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ.  To  trust  Him  is  to  come  to  Him,  and  it  is 
represented  in  Scripture  as  conferring  an  instan- 
taneous fitness  for  access  to  God.  People  pray  some- 
times that  they  may  be  made  '  meet  for  the  inheritance 
of  the  saints  in  light,'  and  the  prayer  is,  in  a  sense, 
wise  and  true.  But  they  too  often  forget  that  the 
Apostle  says,  in  the  original  connection  of  the  words 
which  they  so  quote :  '  He  hath  translated  us  from 
the  tyranny  of  the  darkness,  and  hath  made  us  meet 
for  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light.'  That  is 
to  say,  whenever  a  poor  soul,  compassed  and  laden 
with  its  infirmity  and  sin,  turns  itself  to  that  Lord 
whose  Cross  conquers  sin,  and  whose  blood  infused 
into  our  veins — the  Spirit  of  whose  life  granted  to 
us  —  gives  us  to  partake  of  His  own  righteousness, 
that  moment  that  soul  can  tread  the  path  that 
brings  into  the  presence  of  God,  and  '  has  access  with 
confidence  by  the  faith  of  Him.'  So,  brethren,  seeing 
that  thus  the  incapacity  may  all  be  swept  away,  and 
that  instead  of  a  '  cannot,'  "which  relegates  us  to 
darkness,  we  may  receive  a  '  can '  which  leads  us  into 
the  light,  let  us  see  to  it  that  this  communion,  which 
is  possible  for  all  Christian  men,  is  real  in  our  cases, 
and  that  we  use  the  access  which  is  given  to  us,  and 
dwell  for  ever  in,  and  with,  the  Lord. 

I  have  said  that  the  act  of  faith,  by  associating  a  man 
with  Jesus  Christ  in  the  power  of  His  death  and  of  His 


V.33]  CANNOT  AND  CAN  215 

life,  makes  any  who  exercise  it  capable  of  passing  into 
the  presence  of  God.  But  I  would  remind  you,  too, 
that  to  make  us  more  fit  for  more  full  and  habitual 
communion  is  the  very  purpose  for  which  all  the  dis- 
cipline of  our  earthly  life,  its  sorrows  and  its  joys,  its 
tasks  and  its  repose,  is  exercised  upon  us — '  He  for  our 
profit,  that  we  might  be  partakers  of  His  holiness.' 
Surely  if  we  habitually  took  that  point  of  view  in  refer- 
ence to  our  work,  in  reference  to  our  joys,  in  reference 
to  our  trials,  everything  would  be  different.  We  are 
being  prepared  with  sedulous  love,  with  patient  reitera- 
tion of '  line  upon  line,  precept  upon  precept,'  with  singu- 
larly varied  methods  but  a  uniform  purpose,  by  all  that 
meets  us  in  life,  to  be  more  capable  of  treading  the 
eternal  path  into  the  eternal  light.  Is  that  how  we 
daily  think  of  our  own  circumstances  ?  Do  we  bring 
that  great  thought  to  bear  upon  all  that  we,  sometimes 
faithlessly,  call  mysterious  or  murmuringly  think  of — 
if  we  dare  not  speak  our  thought — as  being  cruel  and 
hard  ?  What  does  it  matter  if  some  precious  things  be 
lifted  off  our  shoulders,  and  out  of  our  hearts,  if  their 
being  taken  away  makes  it  more  possible  for  us  to  tread 
with  a  lighter  step  the  path  of  peace  ?  What  matters 
it  though  many  things  that  we  would  fain  keep  are 
withdrawn  from  us,  if  by  the  withdrawal  we  are  sent  a 
little  further  forward  on  the  road  that  leads  to  God? 
As  George  Herbert  says,  sorrows  and  joys  are  like 
battledores  that  drive  a  shuttlecock,  and  they  may  all 
*  toss  us  to  His  breast.'  In  faith,  however  infantile  it 
may  be,  there  is  an  undeveloped  capacity,  a  germ  of 
fitness,  for  dwelling  with  God.  But  that  capacity  is 
meant  to  be  increased,  and  the  little  children  are  meant 
to  be  helped  to  grow  up  into  full-grown  men,  '  the 
measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fullness  of  Christ,'  by  all 


216  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.  xiii. 

that  conies  here  to  them  on  earth.  Do  you  not  think 
we  should  understand  life  better,  do  you  not  think  it 
would  all  be  flashed  up  into  new  radiance,  do  you  not 
think  we  should  more  seldom  stand  bewildered  at  what 
we  choose  to  call  the  inscrutable  dispensations  of  Provi- 
dence, if  this  were  the  point  of  view  from  which  we 
looked  at  them  all— that  they  were  fitting  us  for 
perpetual  abiding  with  our  Father  God  ? 

Nor  let  us  forget  that  there  was  a  transient  'cannot' 
of  another  sort.  For  '  flesh  and  blood  cannot  inherit 
the  Kingdom  of  God.'  So,  as  life  is  changed  when  we 
think  of  it  as  helping  us  toward  Him,  death  is  changed 
when  we  think  of  it  as  being,  if  I  may  so  say,  the  usher 
in  attendance  on  the  Presence-chamber,  who  draws 
back  the  thin  curtain  that  separates  us  from  the  throne, 
and  takes  us  by  the  hands  and  leads  us  into  the  Pre- 
sence. Surely  if  we  habitually  thought  thus  of  that 
otherwise  grim  chamberlain,  we  should  be  willing  to 
put  our  hands  into  His,  as  a  little  child  will,  when  stray- 
ing, into  the  hands  of  a  stranger  who  says,  '  Come  with 
me  and  I  will  take  you  home  to  your  father.'  'As  I 
said  unto  the  Jews  ...  so  now  I  say  to  you,  whither  I 
go,  ye  cannot  come.' 

Let  us  press  on  you  and  on  myself  the  one  thought 
that  comes  out  of  all  that  I  have  been  saying,  the 
blessed  possibility,  which,  because  it  is  a  possibility,  is 
an  obligation,  to  use  far  more  than  most  of  us  do,  the 
right  of  access  to  the  King  who  is  our  Father.  There 
are  nobles  and  corporate  bodies,  who  regard  it  as  one  of 
their  chief  distinctions  that  they  have  always  the  right 
of  entr4e  to  the  court  of  the  sovereign.  Every  Christian 
man  has  that.  And  in  old  days,  when  a  baron  did  not 
show  himself  at  court,  suspicion  naturally  arose,  and 
he  was  in  danger  of  being  thought  disaffected,  if  not 


V.33]  SEEKING  JESUS  217 

traitorous.  Ah  !  if  you  and  I  were  judged  according  to 
that  law,  what  would  become  of  us  ?  We  can  go  when 
we  like.  How  seldom  we  do  go !  We  can  live  in  the 
heavens  whilst  our  work  lies  down  here.  We  prefer 
the  low  earth  to  the  lofty  sky.  '  We  are  come  '—ideally, 
and  in  the  depths  of  our  nature,  our  affinities  are  there 
— 'unto  God,  the  Judge  of  all,  and  to  Jesus  the  Mediator 
of  the  new  Covenant.'  Are  we  come  ?  Are  we  day  by 
day,  in  all  the  pettiness  of  our  ordinary  lives,  when 
compassed  by  hard  duties,  weighed  upon  by  sore  dis- 
tress— still  keeping  our  hearts  in  heaven,  and  our  feet 
familiar  with  the  path  that  leads  us  to  God  ?  '  Set  your 
affection  on  things  above,  where  Jesus  is,  sitting  at 
the  right  hand  of  God.'  For  there  is  no  '  cannot '  for 
His  servants  in  regard  to  their  access  to  any  place 
where  He  is. 


SEEKING  JESUS 

*. .  .  Ye  shall  seek  Me.'— John  xiii.  33. 

In  the  former  sermon  on  this  verse  I  pointed  out  that 
it,  in  its  fullness,  applies  only  to  the  brief  period  between 
the  crucifixion  and  the  resurrection,  but  that,  partly 
by  contrast  and  partly  by  analogy,  it  suggests  per- 
manent relations  between  Christ  and  His  disciples. 
These  relations  were  mainly — as  I  pointed  out  then — 
two :  there  was  that  one  expressed  by  the  subsequent 
words  of  the  verse,  '  Whither  I  go,  ye  cannot  come ' — a 
brief  'cannot,'  soon  to  be  changed  into  a  permanent 
•can';  and  there  was  a  second,  a  brief,  sad,  and  vain 
seeking,  soon  to  be  changed  into  a  seeking  which  finds. 
It  is  to  the  latter  that  I  wish  to  turn  now. 
*  Ye  shall  seek  Me '  fell,  like  the  clods  on  a  coffin-lid, 


218  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.  xiii. 

with  a  hollow  sound  on  the  hearts  of  the  Apostles.  It 
conies  to  us  as  a  permission  and  a  command  and  a 
promise.  I  do  not  dwell  on  that  sad  seeking,  which 
was  so  brief  but  so  bitter.  We  all  know  what  it  is  to 
put  out  an  empty  hand  into  the  darkness  and  the  void, 
and  to  grope  for  a  touch  which  we  know,  whilst  we 
grope,  that  we  shall  not  find.  And  these  poor,  helpless 
disciples,  by  their  forlorn  sense  of  separation,  by  their 
yearning  that  brought  no  satisfaction,  by  their  very 
listless  despair,  were  saying,  during  these  hours  of 
agony  into  which  an  eternity  of  pain  was  condensed, 
'  Oh !  that  He  were  beside  us  again  ! ' 

That  sad  seeking  ended  when  He  came  to  them,  and 
*  then  were  the  disciples  glad  when  they  saw  the  Lord.' 
But  another  kind  of  seeking  began,  when  'the  cloud 
received  Him  out  of  their  sight ' ;  as  joyful  as  the  other 
was  laden  with  sorrow,  as  sure  to  find  the  object  of  its 
quest  as  the  other  was  certain  to  be  disappointed. 
What  He  said  in  the  darkness  to  them.  He  says  in  the 
light  to  us  :  What '  I  say  unto  you  I  say  unto  all,'  Seek  ! 
So  now  we  have  to  deal  with  that  joyful  search  which 
is  sure  of  finding  its  object,  and  is  only  a  little,  if  at  all, 
less  blessed  than  the  finding  itself. 

I.  Every  Christian  is,  by  his  very  name,  a  seeker  after 
Christ. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  seeking,  one  like  that  of  a 
bird  whose  young  have  been  stolen  away,  which  flutters 
here  and  there,  because  it  knows  not  where  that  is 
which  it  seeks ;  another,  like  the  flight  of  the  same  bird, 
when  the  migrating  instinct  rises  in  its  little  breast, 
and  straight  as  an  arrow  it  goes,  not  because  it  knows 
not  its  goal,  but  because  it  knows  it,  yonder  where  the 
sun  is  warm  and  the  sky  is  blue,  and  winter  is  left 
behind  in  the  cold  north.     'Ye  shall  seek  Me'  is  the 


V.33]  SEEKING  JESUS  219 

word  of  promise,  which  changes  the  vain  search  that  is 
ignorant  of  where  the  object  of  its  quest  is,  into  a 
blessed  going  out  of  the  heart  towards  that  which  it 
knows  to  be  the  home  of  its  homelessness.  Thus  the 
text  brings  out  the  very  central  blessedness  and  peculi- 
arity of  the  Christian  life,  that  it  has  no  uncertainty  in 
its  aims,  and  that,  instead  of  seeking  for  things  which 
may  or  may  not  be  found,  or  if  found  may  or  may  not 
prove  to  be  what  we  dreamt  them  to  be,  it  seeks  for  a 
Person  whom  it  knows  where  to  find,  and  of  whom  it 
knows  that  all  its  desires  will  be  met  in  Him.  We 
have,  then,  on  the  one  side  the  multifarious,  divergent 
searchings  of  man ;  and  on  the  other  side  the  one  quest 
in  which  all  these  others  are  gathered  up,  and  translated 
into  blessedness — the  seeking  after  Jesus  Christ. 

Men  know  that  they  need,  if  I  may  so  put  it,  four 
things  :  truth  for  the  understanding,  love  round  which 
the  heart  may  coil,  authority  for  the  will  which  may 
direct  and  restrain,  and  energy  for  the  practical  life. 
But,  apart  from  the  quest  after  Christ,  men  for  the 
most  part  seek  these  necessary  goods  in  divers  objects, 
and  fragmentarily  look  for  the  completion  of  their 
desires.  But  fragments  will  never  satisfy  a  man's  soul, 
and  they  who  have  to  go  to  one  place  for  truth,  and 
to  another  for  love,  and  to  another  for  authority,  and 
to  another  for  energy,  are  wofuUy  likely  never  to  find 
what  they  search  for.  They  are  seeking  in  the  mani- 
fold what  can  be  found  only  in  the  One.  It  is  as  if 
some  vessel,  full  of  precious  stones,  were  thrown  down 
before  men,  and  whilst  they  are  racing  after  the 
diamonds,  they  lose  the  emeralds  and  the  sapphires. 
But  the  wise  concentrate  their  seekings  on  the  '  one 
Pearl  of  great  price,'  in  whom  is  truth  for  the  brain, 
love  for  the  heart,  authority  for  the  will,  power  for 


220  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.xiii. 

the  life,  and  all  summed  in  that  which  is  more  blessed 
than  all,  the  Person  of  the  Brother  who  died  for  us, 
the  Christ  who  lives  to  fill  our  hearts  for  ever.  One 
sun  dims  all  the  stars ;  and  the  '  one  entire  and  perfect 
Chrysolite'  beggars  and  reduces  to  fragments  'all  the 
precious  things  that  thou  canst  desire.' 

To  seek  Him  is  the  very  hall-mark  of  a  Christian,  and 
that  seeking  comes  to  be  an  earnest  desire  and  effort 
after  more  conscious  communion  with  Him,  and  a  more 
entire  possession  of  His  imparted  life  which  is  righteous- 
ness and  peace  and  joy  and  power.  According  to  the 
Rabbis,  the  manna  tasted  to  each  man  what  each  man 
most  desired.  The  manifoldness  of  the  one  Christ  is  far 
more  manifold  than  the  manifoldness  of  the  multiplicity 
of  fragmentary  and  partial  aims  which  foolish  men 
perceive. 

The  ways  of  seeking  are  very  plain.  First  of  all,  we 
seek  if,  and  in  proportion  as,  we  make  the  effort  to 
occupy  our  thoughts  and  minds,  not  with  theological 
dogmas,  but  with  the  living  Christ  Himself.  Ah ! 
brethren,  it  is  hard  to  do,  and  I  daresay  a  great  many 
of  you  are  thinking  that  it  is  far  harder  for  you,  in 
the  distractions  and  rush  and  conflict  of  business  and 
daily  life,  than  it  is  for  people  like  me,  whom  you 
imagine  as  sitting  in  a  study,  with  nothing  to  dis- 
tract us.  I  do  not  know  about  that;  I  fancy  it  is 
about  equally  hard  for  us  all ;  but  it  is  possible.  I 
have  been  in  Alpine  villages  where,  at  the  end  of 
every  squalid  alley,  there  towered  up  a  great,  pure, 
silent,  white  peak.  That  is  what  our  lives  may  be; 
however  noisome,  crowded,  petty  the  little  lane  in 
which  we  live,  the  Alp  is  at  the  end  of  it  there,  if 
we  only  choose  to  lift  our  eyes  and  look.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  not  only  'into  the  sessions  of  sweet   silent 


V.33]  SEEKING  JESUS  221 

thought,'  but  into  the  rush  and  bustle  of  the  work- 
shop or  the  exchange,  there  may  come,  like  '  some 
sweet,  beguiling  melody,  so  sweet  we  know  not  we 
are  listening  to  it,'  the  thought  that  changes  petti- 
ness into  greatness,  that  makes  all  things  go  smoothly 
and  easily,  that  is  a  test  and  a  charm  to  discover 
and  to  destroy  temptation,  the  thought  of  a  present 
Christ,  the  Lover  of  my  soul,  and  the  Helper  of  my 
life. 

Again,  we  seek  Him  when,  by  aspiration  and  desire, 
we  bring  Him — as  He  is  always  brought  thereby — into 
our  hearts  and  into  our  lives.  The  measure  of  our 
desire  is  the  measure  of  our  possession.  "Wishing  is 
the  opening  of  our  hearts,  but,  alas,  often  we  wish 
and  desire,  and  the  heart  opens  and  nothing  enters. 
Wishes  are  like  the  tentacles  of  some  marine  organism 
waving  about  in  a  waste  ocean,  feeling  for  the  food 
that  they  do  not  find.  But  if  we  open  our  hearts  for 
Him,  that  is  simultaneous  with  the  coming  of  Him 
to  us.  'Ye  have  not,  because  ye  ask  not.'  Do  not 
forget,  dear  friends,  that  desire,  if  it  is  genuine,  will 
take  a  very  concrete  form  and  will  be  prayer.  And 
it  is  prayer — by  which  I  do  not  mean  the  utterance 
of  words  without  desire,  any  more  than  I  mean  desire 
without  the  direct  casting  of  it  into  the  form  of 
supplication  —  it  is  prayer  that  brings  Christ  into 
any,  and  it  is  prayer  that  will  bring  Him  into  every, 
life. 

Nor  let  us  forget  that  there  is  another  way  of  seek- 
ing besides  these  two,  of  looking  up  to  Him  through, 
and  in  the  midst  of,  all  the  shows  and  trifles  of  this 
low  life,  and  the  reaching  out  of  our  desires  towards 
Him,  as  the  roots  of  a  tree  beneath  the  soil  go  straight 
for  the  river.    That  other  way  is  imitation  and  obedi- 


222  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiii. 

ence.  It  is  vain  to  think  of  Him,  and  it  is  unreal  to 
pretend  to  desire  Him,  if  we  are  not  seeking  Him  by 
treading  in  the  path  that  He  has  trod,  and  which  leads 
to  Him.  Imitation  and  obedience — these  are  the  steps 
by  which  we  go  straight  through  all  the  trivialities 
of  life  into  the  presence  of  the  Lord  Himself.  The 
smallest  deflection  from  the  path  that  leads  to  Him 
will  carry  us  away  into  doleful  wastes.  The  least 
invisible  cloud  that  steals  across  the  sky  will  blot  out 
half  a  hemisphere  of  stars ;  and  we  seek  not  Christ 
unless,  thinking  of  Him,  and  desiring  Him,  we  also 
walk  in  the  path  in  which  He  has  walked,  and  so  come 
where  He  is.  He  Himself  has  said  that  if  His  servant 
follows  Him,  where  He  is  there  shall  also  His  servant 
be.  These  things  make  up  the  seeking  which  ought  to 
mark  us  all. 

I  note  that — 

II.  The  Christian  seeker  always  finds. 

I  pointed  out  in- my  last  sermon  the  strange  identity 
bf  our  Lord's  words  to  His  humble  friends,  with  those 
'which  on  another  occasion  He  used  to  His  bitter 
enemies.  He  reminds  the  disciples  of  that  identity  in 
the  verse  from  which  my  text  comes :  '  As  I  said  to 
the  Jews  ...  so  now  I  say  to  you.'  But  there  was 
one  thing  that  He  said  to  the  Jews  that  He  did  not 
say  to  them.  To  the  former  He  said,  'Ye  shall  seek 
Me,  and  shall  not  find  Me ' ;  and  He  did  not  say  that — 
even  for  the  sad  hours  it  was  not  quite  true — He  did 
not  say  that  to  His  followers,  and  He  does  not  say  it 
to  us. 

If  we  seek  we  shall  find.  There  is  no  disappointment 
in  the  Christian  life.  Anything  is  possible  rather  than 
that  a  man  should  desire  Christ  and  not  have  Him. 
That  has  never  been  the  experience  of  any  seeking 


V.  33]  SEEKING  JESUS  223 

soul.  And  so  I  urge  upon  you  what  has  already  been 
suggested,  that  inasmuch  as,  by  reason  of  His  infinite 
longing  to  give  truth  and  love  and  guidance  and 
energy  and  His  whole  Self,  to  all  of  us,  the  amount 
of  our  possessioji  of  the  power  and  life  of  Jesus  Christ 
depends  on  ourselves.  If  you  take  to  the  fountain  a  tiny 
cup,  you  will  only  bring  away  a  tiny  cupful.  If  you 
take  a  great  vessel  you  will  bring  it  away  full.  As 
long  as  the  woman  in  the  old  story  held  out  her  vessels 
to  the  miraculous  flow  of  the  oil,  the  flow  continued. 
When  she  had  no  more  vessels  to  take,  the  flow  stopped. 
If  a  man  holds  a  flagon  beneath  a  spigot  with  an  un- 
steady hand,  half  of  the  precious  liquor  will  be  spilt  on 
the  ground.  Those  who  fulfil  the  conditions,  of  which 
I  have  already  been  speaking,  may  make  quite  sure 
that  according  to  their  faith  will  it  be  unto  them. 
And  if  you,  dear  friend,  have  not  in  your  experience 
the  conscious  presence  of  a  Christ  who  is  all  that 
you  need,  there  is  no  one  in  heaven  or  earth  or  hell 
to  blame  for  it  but  only  your  own  self.  *I  have 
never  said  to  any  of  the  seed  of  Jacob,  Seek  ye 
My  face  in  vain ' ;  and  when  the  Lord  said,  '  Ye  shall 
seek  Me,'  He  was  implicitly  binding  Himself  to  meet 
the  seeking  soul,  and  give  Himself  to  the  desiring 
heart. 

Remember,  too,  that  this  seeking,  which  is  always 
crowned  with  finding,  is  the  only  search  in  which 
failure  is  impossible.  There  is  only  one  course  of 
life  that  has  no  disappointments.  We  all  know  how 
frequently  we  are  foiled  in  our  quests;  we  all  know 
how  often  a  prize  won  is  a  bitterer  disappointment 
than  a  prize  unattained.  Like  a  jelly-fish  in  the 
water,  as  long  as  it  is  there  its  tenuous  substance  is 
lovely,    expanded,    tinged    with    delicate    violets    and 


224  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.  xiii. 

blues,  and  its  long  filaments  float  in  lines  of  beauty. 
Lay  it  on  the  beach,  and  it  is  a  shapeless  lump,  and 
it  poisons  and  stings.  You  fish  your  prize  out  of 
the  great  ocean,  and  when  you  have  it,  does  it  dis- 
appoint, or  does  it  fulfil,  the  raised  expectations  of 
the  quest?  There  is  One  who  does  not  disappoint. 
There  is  one  gold  mine  that  comes  up  to  the  pro- 
spectus. There  is  one  spring  that  never  runs  dry. 
The  more  deep  our  Christian  experience  is,  the 
more  we  shall  take  the  rapturous  exclamation  of 
the  Arabian  queen  to  ourselves:  *The  half  was  not 
told  us!' 

And  so,  lastly,  I  suggest  that — 

III.  The  finding  impels  to  fresh  seeking. 

The  object  of  the  Christian  man's  quest  is  Jesus 
Christ.  He  is  Incarnate  Infinitude;  and  that  cannot 
be  exhausted.  The  seeker  after  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
Christian  soul.  That  soul  is  the  incarnate  possibility 
of  indefinite  expansion  and  approximation  and  assimi- 
lation ;  and  that  cannot  be  exhausted.  And  so,  with  a 
Christ  who  is  infinite,  and  a  seeker  whose  capacities 
may  be  indefinitely  expanded,  there  can  be  no  satiety, 
there  can  be  no  limit,  there  can  be  no  end  to  the 
process.  This  wine-skin  will  not  burst  when  the  new 
wine  is  put  into  it.  Rather  like  some  elastic  vessel, 
as  you  pour  it  will  fill  out  and  expand.  Possession 
enlarges,  and  the  more  of  Christ's  fullness  is  poured 
into  a  human  heart,  the  more  is  that  heart  widened 
out  to  receive  a  greater  blessing. 

Dear  brethren,  there  is  one  course  of  life,  and  I 
believe  but  one,  on  which  we  may  all  enter  with  the 
sure  confidence  that  in  the  nature  of  things,  in  the 
nature  of  Christ,  and  in  the  nature  of  ourselves,  there 
is  no  end  to  growth  and  progress.    Think  of  the  fresh- 


V.33]  SEEKING  JESUS  225 

ness  and  blessedness  and  energy  that  puts  into  a  life. 
To  have  an  unattained  and  unattainable  object,  a 
goal  to  which  we  can  never  come,  but  to  which  we  may 
ever  be  approximating,  seems  to  me  to  be  the  secret 
of  perpetual  joy  and  of  perpetual  youthfulness.  To 
say,  'forgetting  the  things  that  are  behind,  I  reach 
forward  unto  the  things  that  are  before,'  is  a  charm 
and  an  amulet  that  repels  monotony  and  weariness, 
and  goes  with  a  man  to  the  very  end,  and  when  all 
other  aims  and  objects  have  died  down  into  grey  ashes, 
that  flame,  like  the  fabled  lamp  in  Virgil's  tomb,  burns 
clear  in  the  grave,  and  lights  us  to  the  eternity  beyond. 
For  certainly,  if  there  be  neither  satiety  nor  limit  to 
Christian  progress  here,  there  can  be  no  better  and 
stronger  evidence  that  Christian  progress  here  is  but 
the  first  'lap'  of  the  race,  the  first  stadium  of  the 
course,  and  that  beyond  that  narrow,  dark  line  which 
lies  across  the  path,  it  runs  on,  rising  higher,  and  will 
run  on  for  ever. 

*  On  earth  the  broken  arc  ;  in  heaven  the  perfect  round.' 

Seek  for  what  you  are  sure  to  find;  seek  for  what 
will  never  disappoint  you;  seek  for  what  will  abide 
with  you  for  ever.  The  very  first  word  of  Christ's 
recorded  in  Scripture  is  a  question  which  He  puts  to  us 
all :  *  What  seek  ye  ? '  Well  for  us,  if  like  the  two  to 
whom  it  was  originally  addressed,  we  answer,  '  We  are 
not  seeking  a  What ;  we  are  seeking  a  Whom. — Master, 
where  dwellest  Thou  ? '  And  if  we  have  that  answer  in 
our  hearts,  we  shall  receive  the  invitation  which  they 
received,  '  Come  and  see,' — come  and  seek.  '  Ye  shall 
seek  Me'  is  a  gracious  invitation,  an  imperative  com- 
mand, and  a  faithful  promise  that  if  we  seek  we  shall 
find.    '  Whoso  findeth  Him  findeth  life ;  whoso  misseth 

VOL.  II.  P 


226  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiii. 

HiTn' — whatever    else    he    has    sought    and    found — 
•  wrongeth  his  own  soul.' 


'AS  I  HAVE  LOVED' 

•  A  new  commandment  T  give  unto  you,  That  ye  love  one  another;  as  I  have 
loved  you,  that  ye  also  love  one  another.  By  this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye 
are  My  disciples,  if  ye  have  love  one  to  another.'— John  xiii.  34,  35. 

Wishes  from  dying  lips  are  sacred.  They  sink  deep 
into  memories  and  mould  faithful  lives.  The  sense 
of  impending  separation  had  added  an  unwonted 
tenderness  to  our  Lord's  address,  and  He  had  designated 
His  disciples  by  the  fond  name  of  '  little  children.'  The 
same  sense  here  gives  authority  to  His  words,  and 
moulds  them  into  the  shape  of  a  command.  The 
disciples  had  held  together  because  He  was  in  their 
midst.  Will  the  arch  stand  when  the  keystone  is 
struck  out?  Will  not  the  spokes  fall  asunder  when 
the  nave  of  the  wheel  is  taken  away  ?  He  would  guard 
them  from  the  disintegrating  tendencies  that  were  sure 
to  set  in  when  He  was  gone ;  and  He  would  point  them 
to  a  solace  for  His  absence,  and  to  a  kind  of  substitute 
for  His  presence.  For  to  love  the  brethren  whom  they 
see  would  be,  in  some  sense,  a  continuing  to  love  the 
Christ  whom  they  had  ceased  to  see.  And  so,  immedi- 
ately after  He  said :  '  Whither  I  go  ye  cannot  come,'  He 
goes  on  to  say :  '  Love  one  another  as  I  have  loved  you.' 
He  called  this  a  'new  commandment,'  though  to 
love  one's  neighbour  as  one's  self  was  a  familiar  com- 
monplace amongst  the  Jews,  and  had  a  recognised 
position  in  Rabbinical  teaching.  But  His  command- 
ment proposed  a  new  object  of  love,  it  set  forth  a  new 
measure  of  love,  so  greatly  different  from  all  that  had 
preceded  it  as  to  become  almost  a  new  kind  of  love,  and 


vs.  34, 35]        *AS  I  HAVE  LOVED'  227 

it  suggested  and  supplied  a  new  motive  power  for  love. 
This  commandment  'could  give  life'  and  fulfil  itself. 
Therefore  it  comes  to  us  as  a  'new  commandment' — 
even  to  us — and,  unlike  the  words  which  preceded  it, 
which  we  were  considering  in  former  sermons,  it  is 
wholly  and  freshly  applicable  to-day  as  in  the  ages  that 
are  passed.     I  ask  you,  first,  to  consider — 

I.  The  new  scope  of  the  new  commandment. 

'Love  one  another.'  The  newness  of  the  precept  is 
realised,  if  we  think  for  a  moment  of  the  new  pheno- 
menon which  obedience  to  it  produced.  When  the 
words  were  spoken,  the  then-known  civilised  Western 
world  was  cleft  by  great,  deep  gulfs  of  separation,  like 
the  crevasses  in  a  glacier,  by  the  side  of  which  our 
racial  animosities  and  class  differences  are  merely 
superficial  cracks  on  the  surface.  Language,  religion, 
national  animosities,  differences  of  condition,  and 
saddest  of  all,  difference  of  sex,  split  the  world  up  into 
alien  fragments.  A  '  stranger '  and  an  '  enemy '  were 
expressed  in  one  language,  by  the  same  word.  The 
learned  and  the  unlearned,  the  slave  and  his  master, 
the  barbarian  and  the  Greek,  the  man  and  the  woman, 
stood  on  opposite  sides  of  the  gulfs,  flinging  hostility 
across.  A  Jewish  peasant  wandered  up  and  down  for 
three  years  in  His  own  little  country,  which  was  the 
very  focus  of  narrowness  and  separation  and  hostility, 
as  the  Roman  historian  felt  when  he  called  the  Jews 
the  'haters  of  the  human  race';  He  gathered  a  few 
disciples,  and  He  was  crucified  by  a  contemptuous 
Roman  governor,  who  thought  that  the  life  of  one 
fanatical  Jew  was  a  small  price  to  pay  for  popularity 
with  his  troublesome  subjects,  and  in  a  generation 
after,  the  clefts  were  being  bridged  and  all  over  the 
Empire  a  strange  new  sense  of  unity  was  being  breathed, 


228  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.  xiii. 

and  'Barbarian,  Scythian,  bond  and  free,'  male  and 
female,  Jew  and  Greek,  learned  and  ignorant,  clasped 
hands  and  sat  down  at  one  table,  and  felt  themselves 
'  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus.'  They  were  ready  to  break  all 
other  bonds,  and  to  yield  to  the  uniting  forces  that 
streamed  out  from  His  Cross.  There  never  had  been 
anything  like  it.  No  wonder  that  the  world  began  to 
babble  about  sorcery,  and  conspiracies,  and  complicity 
in  unnameable  vices.  It  was  only  that  the  disciples 
were  obeying  the  'new  commandment,'  and  a  new 
thing  had  come  into  the  world — a  community  held 
together  by  love  and  not  by  geographical  accidents  or 
linguistic  aJBfinities,  or  the  iron  fetters  of  the  conqueror. 
You  sow  the  seed  in  furrows  separated  by  ridges,  and 
the  ground  is  seamed,  but  when  the  seed  springs  the 
ridges  are  hidden,  no  division  appears,  and  as  far  as 
the  eye  can  reach,  the  cornfield  stretches,  rippling  in 
unbroken  waves  of  gold.  The  new  commandment 
made  a  new  thing,  and  the  world  wondered. 

Now  then,  brethren,  do  not  let  us  forget  that, 
although  to  obey  this  commandment  is  in  some  respects 
a  great  deal  harder  to-day  than  it  was  then,  the 
diverse  circumstances  in  which  Christian  individuals 
and  Christian  communities  are  this  day  placed  may 
modify  the  form  of  our  obedience,  but  do  not  in  the 
smallest  degree  weaken  the  obligation,  for  the  indi- 
vidual Christian  and  for  societies  of  Christians,  to 
foUow^  this  commandment.  The  multiplication  of 
numbers,  the  cessation  of  the  armed  hostility  of  the 
world,  the  great  varieties  in  intellectual  position  in 
regard  to  the  truths  of  Christianity,  divergencies  of 
culture,  and  many  other  things,  are  separating  forces. 
But  our  Christianity  is  worth  very  little,  if  it  cannot 
master  these   separating  tendencies,   even   as    in    the 


vs.  3  i,  35]        'AS  I  HAVE  LOVED*  229 

early  days  of  freshness,  the  Christianity  that  sprang 
in  these  new  converts'  minds  mastered  the  far  more 
powerful  separating  tendencies  with  which  they  had 
to  contend. 

Every  Christian  man  is  under  the  obligation  to  recog- 
nise his  kindred  with  every  other  Christian  man — his 
kindred  in  the  deep  foundations  of  his  spiritual  being, 
which  are  far  deeper,  and  ought  to  be  far  more 
operative  in  drawing  together,  than  the  superficial 
differences  of  culture  or  opinion  or  the  like,  which  may 
part  us.  The  bond  that  holds  Christian  men  together 
is  their  common  relation  to  the  one  Lord,  and  that 
ought  to  influence  their  attitude  to  one  another.  You 
say  I  am  talking  commonplaces.  Yes;  and  the  con- 
dition of  Christianity  this  day  is  the  sad  and  tragical 
sign  that  the  commonplaces  need  to  be  talked  about, 
till  they  are  rubbed  into  the  conscience  of  the  Church 
as  thoy  never  have  been  before. 

Do  not  let  us  suppose  that  Christian  love  is  mere 
sentiment.  I  shall  have  to  speak  a  word  or  two  about 
that  presently,  but  I  would  fain  lift  the  whole  subject, 
if  I  can,  out  of  the  region  of  mere  unctuous  words  and 
gush  of  half -feigned  emotion,  which  mean  nothing,  and 
would  make  you  feel  that  it  is  a  very  practical  com- 
mandment, gripping  us  hard,  when  our  Lord  says  to  us, 
'  Love  one  another.' 

I  have  spoken  about  the  accidental  conditions  which 
make  obedience  to  this  commandment  difficult.  The 
real  reason  which  makes  the  obedience  to  it  difficult  is 
the  slackness  of  our  own  hold  on  the  Centre.  In  the 
measure  in  which  we  are  filled  with  Jesus  Christ,  in 
that  measure  will  that  expression  of  His  spirit  and  His 
life  become  natural  to  us.  Every  Christian  has  affinities 
with  every  other  Christian,  in  the  depths  of  his  being, 


230  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.  xiii. 

so  as  that  he  is  a  great  deal  more  like  his  brother,  who 
is  possessor  of  '  like  precious  faith,'  however  unlike  the 
two  may  be  in  outlook,  in  idiosyncrasy,  and  culture  and 
in  creed,  than  he  is  to  another  man  with  whom  he  may 
have  a  far  closer  sympathy  in  all  these  matters  than 
he  has  with  the  brother  in  question,  but  from  whom 
he  is  parted  by  this,  that  the  one  trusts  and  loves  and 
obeys  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  other  does  not.  So,  for 
individuals  and  for  churches,  the  commandment  takes 
this  shape — Go  down  to  the  depths  and  you  w^ill  find 
that  you  are  closer  to  the  Christian  man  or  community 
which  seems  furthest  from  you,  than  you  are  to  the 
non-Christian  who  seems  nearest  to  you.  Therefore, 
let  your  love  follow  your  kinship,  and  your  heart 
recognise  the  oneness  that  knits  you  together.  That 
is  a  revolutionary  commandment ;  what  would  become 
of  our  present  organisations  of  Christianity  if  it  were 
obeyed  ?  That  is  a  revolutionary  commandment ;  what 
would  become  of  our  individual  relations  to  the  whole 
family  who,  in  every  place,  and  in  many  tongues, 
and  with  many  creeds,  call  on  Jesus  as  on  their  Lord, 
their  Lord  and  ours,  if  it  were  obeyed  ?  I  leave  you  to 
answer  the  question.  Only  I  say  the  commandment 
has  for  its  first  scope  all  who,  in  every  place,  love  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

But  there  is  more  than  that  involved  in  it.  The  very 
same  principle  which  makes  this  love  to  one  another 
imperative  upon  all  disciples,  makes  it  equally  im- 
perative upon  every  follower  of  Jesus  Christ  to  em- 
brace in  a  real  affection  all  whom  Jesus  so  loved  as 
to  die  for  them.  If  I  am  to  love  a  Christian  man 
because  he  and  I  love  Christ,  I  am  to  love  everybody, 
because  Christ  loves  me  and  everybody,  and  because 
He  died  on  the  Cross  for  me  and  for  all  men.    And 


vs. 34, 35]        'AS  I  HAVE  LOVED*  231 

so  one  of  the  other  Apostles,  or,  at  least,  the  letter 
which  goes  by  his  name,  laid  hold  on  the  true  con- 
nection when,  instead  of  concentrating  Christian  affec- 
tion on  the  Church,  and  letting  the  world  go  to  the 
devil  as  an  alien  thing,  he  said:  'Add  to  your  faith,' 
this,  that,  and  the  other,  and  '  brotherly  kindness,  and 
to  brotherly  kindness,  charity.'  The  particular  does 
not  exclude  the  general,  it  leads  to  the  general.  The 
fire  kindled  upon  the  hearth  gives  warmth  to  all  the 
chamber.  The  circles  are  concentric,  and  the  widest 
sweep  is  struck  from  the  same  middle  point  as  the 
narrow.  So  the  new  commandment  does  not  cut 
humanity  into  two  halves,  but  gathers  all  diversity  into 
one,  and  spreads  the  great  reconciling  of  Christian  love 
over  all  the  antagonisms  and  oppositions  of  earth.  Let 
me  ask  you  to  notice — 

II.  The  example  of  the  new  commandment,  *As  I 
have  loved  you.' 

That  solemn  '  as '  lifts  itself  up  before  us,  shines  far 
ahead  of  us,  ought  to  draw  us  to  itself  in  hope,  and 
not  to  reiDel  us  from  itself  in  despair.  'As  I  have 
loved' — what  a  tremendous  thing  for  a  man  to  stand 
up  before  his  fellows,  and  say,  '  Take  Me  as  the  perfect 
example  of  perfect  love ;  and  let  My  example — un- 
dimmed  by  the  mists  of  gathering  centuries,  and  un- 
weakened  by  the  change  of  condition,  and  circumstance, 
fresh  as  ever  after  ages  have  passed,  and  closely-fitting 
as  ever  all  varieties  of  human  character  and  condi- 
tion— stand  before  you ;  the  ideal  that  I  have  realised, 
and  you  will  be  blessed  in  the  proportion  in  which 
you  seek,  though  you  fail,  to  realise  it!'  There  is,  I 
venture  to  believe,  only  one  aspect  of  Jesus  Christ  in 
which  such  a  setting  forth  of  Himself  as  the  perfect 
Incarnation  of  perfect  love  is  warrantable;  and  that 


232  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.xiii. 

is  found  in  the  old  belief  that  His  very  birth  was  the 
result  of  His  love,  and  that  His  death  was  the  climax 
of  that  love.  And  if  so,  we  have  to  turn  to  Bethlehem, 
and  the  whole  life,  and  the  Cross  at  its  end,  as  being 
the  Christ-given  example  and  model  for  our  love  to 
our  brethren. 

What  do  we  see  there?  I  have  said  that  there  is 
too  much  of  mere  sickly  sentimentality  about  the 
ordinary  treatment  of  this  great  commandment,  and 
that  I  desired  to  lift  it  out  of  that  region  into  a  far 
nobler,  more  strenuous,  and  difficult  one.  This  is  what 
we  see  in  that  life  and  in  that  death: — First  of  all — 
the  activity  of  love — '  Let  us  not  love  in  words,  but  in 
deed  and  in  truth ';  then  we  see  the  self-f  orgetf  ulness 
of  love — 'Even  Christ  pleased  not  Himself;  then  we 
see  the  self-sacrifice  of  love — 'Greater  love  hath  no 
man  than  this,  that  a  man  lay  down  his  life  for  his 
friends.'  And  in  these  three  points,  on  which  I  would 
fain  enlarge  if  I  might,  active  love,  self-oblivious  love, 
self-sacrificing  love,  you  have  the  pattern  set  for  us 
all.  Christian  love  is  no  mere  sickly  maiden,  full  of 
sentimental  emotions  and  honeyed  words.  She  is  a 
strenuous  virgin,  girt  for  service,  a  heroine  ready  for 
dangers,  and  prepared  to  be  a  martyr  if  it  be  needful. 
Love's  language  is  sacrifice.  'I  give  thee  myself,'  is 
its  motto.  And  that  is  the  pattern  that  is  set  before 
us  all — '  as  I  have  loved  you.' 

I  have  tried  to  show  you  how  the  commandment  was 
new  in  many  particulars,  and  it  is  for  ever  new  in  this 
particular,  that  it  is  for  ever  before  us,  unattained,  and 
drawing  faithful  hearts  to  itself,  and  ever  opening  out 
into  new  heroisms  and,  therefore,  blessedness,  of  self- 
sacrifice,  and  ever  leading  us  to  confess  the  differences, 
deep,  tragic,  sinful,  between  us   and   Him   who — we 


vs. 34, 35]        *AS  I  HAVE  LOVED'  233 

Bometimes  think  too  presumptuously — we  venture  to 
say  is  our  Lord  and  Master. 

Did  you  ever  see  in  some  great  picture  gallery  a 
copyist  sitting  in  front  of  a  Raffaelle,  and  comparing 
his  poor  feeble  daub,  all  out  of  drawing,  and  with  little 
of  the  divine  beauty  that  the  master  had  breathed  over 
his  canvas,  even  if  it  preserved  the  mere  mechanical 
outline?  That  is  what  you  and  I  should  do  with  our 
lives :  take  them  and  put  them  down  side  by  side  with 
the  original.  We  shall  have  to  do  it  some  day.  Had 
we  better  not  do  it  now,  and  try  to  bring  the  copy  a 
little  nearer  to  the  masterpiece;  and  let  that  'as  I 
have  loved  you'  shine  before  us  and  draw  us  on  to 
unattainable  heights  ? 

And  now,  lastly,  we  have  here — 

III.  The  motive  power  for  obedience  to  the  command- 
ment. 

That  is  as  new  as  all  the  rest.  That  'as'  expresses 
the  manner  of  the  love,  but  it  also  expresses  the 
motive  and  the  power.  It  might  be  translated  into 
the  equivalent  'in  the  fashion  in  which,'  or  it  might 
be  translated  into  the  equivalent '  since — ' '  I  have  loved 
you.'  The  original  might  bear  the  rendering,  '  that  ye 
also  may  love  one  another.'  That  is  to  say,  what  keeps 
men  from  obeying  this  commandment  is  the  instinctive 
self-regard  which  is  natural  to  us  all.  There  are 
muscles  in  the  body  which  are  so  constructed  that 
they  close  tightly;  and  the  heart  is  something  like 
one  of  these  sphincter  muscles — it  shuts  by  nature, 
especially  if  there  has  been  anything  put  inside  it 
over  which  it  can  shut  and  keep  it  all  to  itself.  But 
there  is  one  thing  that  dethrones  Self,  and  enthrones 
the  angel  Love  in  a  heart,  and  that  is,  that  into  that 
heart  there  shall  come  surging  the  sense  of  the  great 


234  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.xiii. 

love  'wherewith  I  have  loved  you.'  That  melts  the 
iceberg ;  nothing  else  will. 

That  love  of  Christ  to  us,  received  into  our  hearts, 
and  there  producing  an  answering  love  to  Him,  will 
make  us,  in  the  measure  in  which  we  live  in  it  and 
let  it  rule  us,  love  everything  and  every  person  that 
He  loves.  That  love  of  Jesus  Christ,  stealing  into  our 
hearts  and  there  sweetening  the  ever-springing  '  issues 
of  life,'  will  make  them  flow  out  in  glad  obedience  to 
any  commandment  of  His.  That  love  of  Jesus  Christ, 
received  into  our  hearts,  and  responded  to  by  our 
answering  love,  will  work,  as  love  always  does,  a 
magical  transformation.  A  great  monastic  teacher 
wrote  his  precious  book  about  The  Imitation  of  Christ. 
'Imitation'  is  a  great  word,  'Transformation'  is  a 
greater.  '  We  all,'  receiving  on  the  mirror  of  our 
loving  hearts  the  love  of  Jesus  Christ,  'are  changed 
into  the  same  likeness.'  Tl;ius,  then,  the  love,  which 
is  our  pattern,  is  also  our  motive  and  our  power  for 
obedience,  and  the  more  we  bring  ourselves  under 
its  influences,  the  more  we  shall  love  all  those  who 
are  beloved  by,  and  lovers  of,  Jesus. 

That  is  the  one  foundation  for  a  world  knit  together 
in  the  bonds  of  amity  and  concord.  There  have  been 
attempts  at  brotherhood,  and  the  guillotine  has  ended 
what  was  begun  in  the  name  of  'fraternity.'  Men 
build  towers,  but  there  is  no  cement  between  the 
bricks,  unless  the  love  of  Christ  holds  them  together, 
and  therefore  Babel  after  Babel  comes  down  about 
the  ears  of  its  builders.  But  notwithstanding  all  that 
is  dark  to-day,  and  though  the  war-clouds  are  lowering, 
and  the  hearts  of  men  are  inflamed  with  fierce  passions, 
Christ's  commandment  is  Christ's  promise ;  and  though 
the  vision  tarry,  it  will  surely  come.     So  even  to-day 


vs.  34, 35]  QUO  VADIS?  235 

Christian  men  ought  to  stand  for  Christ's  peace,  and 
for  Christ's  love.  The  old  commandment  which  we 
have  had  from  the  beginning,  is  the  new  command- 
ment that  fits  to-day  as  it  fits  all  the  ages.  It  is  a 
dream,  say  some.  Yes,  a  dream ;  but  a  morning  dream 
which  comes  true.  Let  us  do  the  little  we  can  to  make 
it  true,  and  to  bring  about  the  day  when  the  flock 
of  men  will  gather  round  the  one  Shepherd,  who  loved 
them  to  the  death,  and  who  has  bid  them  and  helped 
them  to  'love  one  another  as' — and  since — *He  has 
loved  them.' 


QUO  VADIS? 

'  Peter  said  unto  Him,  Lord,  why  cannot  I  follow  Thee  now  f  I  will  lay  down 
my  life  for  Thy  sake.  Jesus  answered  him,  Wilt  thou  lay  down  thy  life  for  My 
sake  ?  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  The  cock  shall  not  crow,  till  thou  hast  denied 
Me  thrice.'— John  xiii.  37,  38. 

Peter's  main  characteristics  are  all  in  operation  here ; 
his  eagerness  to  be  in  the  front,  his  habit  of  blurting 
out  his  thoughts  and  feelings,  his  passionate  love  for 
his  Master,  and  withal  his  inability  to  understand  Him, 
and  his  self-confident  arrogance.  He  has  broken  in 
upon  Christ's  solemn  words,  entirely  deaf  to  their  deep 
meaning,  but  blindly  and  blunderingly  laying  hold  of 
one  thought  only,  that  Jesus  is  departing,  and  that  he 
is  to  be  left  alone.  So  he  asks  the  question,  'Lord! 
whither  goest  Thou  ?  '—not  so  much  caring  about  that, 
as  meaning  by  his  question — '  tell  me  where,  and  then  I 
will  come  too  ';  pledging  himseK  to  follow  faithfully,  as 
a  dog  behind  his  master,  wherever  He  went. 

Our  Lord  answered  the  underlying  meaning  of  the 
words,  repeating  with  a  personal  application  what  He 
had  just  before  said  as  a  general  principle— 'Whither  I 


236  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.  xm. 

go  thou  canst  not  follow  Me  now,  but  thou  shalt 
follow  Me  afterwards.'  Then  followed  this  noteworthy 
dialogue. 

The  whole  significance  of  the  incident  is  preserved  for 
us  in  the  beautiful  legend  which  tells  us  how,  near  the 
city  of  Rome,  on  the  Appian  Way,  as  Peter  was  flying 
for  his  life,  he  met  the  Lord,  and  again  said  to  Him : 
'  Lord,  whither  goest  Thou  ? '  The  words  of  the  ques- 
tion, as  given  in  the  Vulgate,  are  the  name  of  the  site 
of  the  supposed  interview,  and  of  the  little  church 
which  stands  on  it.  The  Master  answered:  *I  go  to 
Rome,  to  be  crucified  again.'  The  answer  smote  the 
heart  of  the  Apostle,  and  turned  the  cowardly  fugitive 
into  a  hero  ;  and  he  followed  his  Lord,  and  went  gladly 
to  his  death.  For  it  was  that  death  which  had  to  be 
accomplished  before  Peter  was  able  to  follow  his  Lord. 

Now,  as  to  the  words  before  us,  I  think  we  shall  best 
gather  their  significance,  and  lay  it  upon  our  own 
hearts,  if  we  simply  follow  the  windings  of  the  dialogue. 
There  are  three  points  :  the  audacious  question,  the 
rash  vow,  and  the  sad  forecast. 

I.  The  audacious  question. 

As  Peter's  first  question, '  Lord,  whither  goest  Thou  ? ' 
meant  not  so  much  what  it  said,  as  '  I  will  follow  Thee 
whithersoever  Thou  goest ;  tell  me,  that  I  may ' ;  so  the 
second  question,  in  like  manner,  is  really  not  so  much  a 
question,  *Why  cannot  I  follow  Thee  now?'  as  the 
nearest  possible  approach  to  a  flat  contradiction  of  our 
Lord.  Peter  puts  his  words  into  the  shape  of  an  inter- 
rogation ;  what  he  means  is,  '  Yes,  I  can  follow  Thee ; 
and  in  proof  thereof,  I  will  lay  down  my  life  for  Thy 
sake.'  The  man's  persistence,  the  man's  love  leading 
him  to  lack  of  reverence,  came  out  in  this  (as  I  have 
ventured  to  call  it)  audacious  question.    Its  underlying 


vs.  37, 38]  QUO  VADIS  ?  .  237 

meaning  was  a  refusal  to  believe  the  Master's  word. 
But  yet  there  was  in  it  a  nobility  of  resolution — broken 
afterwards,  but  never  mind  about  that — to  endure  any- 
thing rather  than  to  be  separate  from  the  Lord.  Yet, 
though  it  was  noble  in  its  motive,  but  lacking  in  rever- 
ence in  its  form,  there  was  a  deeper  error  than  that  in 
it.  Peter  did  not  know  what  *  following '  meant,  and 
he  had  to  be  taught  that  first.  One  of  the  main  reasons 
why  he  could  not  follow  was  because  he  did  not  under- 
stand what  was  involved.  It  was  something  more  than 
marching  behind  his  Master,  even  to  a  Cross.  There 
was  a  deeper  discipline  and  a  more  strenuous  effort 
needed  than  would  have  availed  for  such  a  kind  of 
following. 

Let  us  look  a  little  onwards  into  his  life.  Recall  that 
scene  on  the  morning  of  the  day  by  the  banks  of  the 
lake,  when  he  waded  through  the  shallow  water,  and 
cast  himself,  dripping,  at  his  Master's  feet,  and,  having 
by  his  threefold  confession  obliterated  his  threefold 
denial,  was  taken  back  to  his  Lord's  love,  and  received 
the  permission  for  which  he  had  hungered,  and  which 
he  had  been  told,  in  the  upper  room,  could  not  '  now ' 
be  given :  '  Jesus  said  to  him,  Follow  thou  Me.'  What 
a  flood  of  remembrances  must  then  have  rushed  over 
the  penitent  Peter !  how  he  must  have  thought  to  him- 
self, '  So  soon,  so  soon  is  the  **  canst  not "  changed  into 
a  canst !  So  soon  has  the  "  afterwards  "  come  to  be  the 
present ! ' 

And  long  years  after  that,  when  he  was  an  old  man, 
and  experience  had  taught  him  what /oZZoiom^  meant, 
he  shared  his  privilege  with  all  the  dispersed  strangers 
to  whom  he  wrote,  and  said  to  them,  with  a  definite 
reference  to  this  incident,  and  to  the  other  after  the 
Resurrection,  'leaving  us  an  example,  that  we  (not  I 


238  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xiii. 

only,  as  I  used  to  think,  in  my  exuberant  days  of  ignor- 
ance) should  follow  in  His  steps.' 

So,  brethren,  this  blundering,  loving,  audacious  ques- 
tion suggests  to  us  that  to  follow  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
supreme  direction  for  all  conduct.  Men  of  all  creeds, 
men  of  no  creed,  admit  that.     The 

'  Loveliness  of  perfect  deeds, 
More  strong  than  all  poetic  thought,' 

which  is  set  forth  in  that  life  constitutes  the  living  law 
to  which  all  conduct  is  to  be  conformed,  and  will  be 
noble  in  proportion  as  it  is  conformed. 

There  is  the  great  blessing,  and  solemn  obligation, 
and  lofty  prerogative  of  Christian  morality,  that  for 
obedience  to  a  precept  it  substitutes  following  a  Person, 
and  instead  of  saying  to  men  '  Be  good,'  it  says  to  them 
'  Be  Christlike.'  It  brings  the  conception  of  duty  out  of 
the  region  of  abstractions  into  the  region  of  living 
realities.  For  the  cold  statuesque  ideal  of  perfection  it 
substitutes  a  living  Man,  with  a  heart  to  love,  and 
a  hand  to  help  us.  Thereby  the  whole  aspect  of  striv- 
ing after  the  right  is  changed ;  for  the  work  is  made 
easier,  and  companionship  comes  in  to  aid  morality, 
when  Jesus  Christ  says  to  us,  '  Be  like  Me  ;  and  then 
you  will  be  good  and  blessed.'  EfPort  will  be  all  but  as 
blessed  as  attainment,  and  the  sense  of  pressing  hard 
after  Him  will  be  only  less  restful  than  the  conscious- 
ness of  having  attained.  To  follow  Him  is  bliss,  to 
reach  Him  is  heaven. 

But  in  order  that  this  following  should  be  possible, 
there  must  be  something  done  that  had  not  been  done 
when  Peter  asked,  'Why  cannot  I  follow  Thee  now?' 
One  reason  why  he  could  not  was,  as  I  said,  because  he 
did  not  know  yet  what  *  following '  meant,  and  because 


vs.  37, 38]  QUO  VADIS?  239 

he  was  yet  unfit  for  this  assimilation  of  his  character 
and  of  his  conduct  to  the  likeness  of  his  Lord.  And 
another  reason  was  because  the  Cross  still  lay  before 
the  Lord,  and  until  that  death  of  infinite  love  and  utter 
self-sacrifice  for  others  had  been  accomplished,  the 
pattern  was  not  yet  complete,  nor  the  highest  ideal  of 
human  life  realised  in  life.  Therefore  the  '  following ' 
was  impossible.  Christ  must  die  before  He  has  com- 
pleted the  example  that  we  are  to  follow,  and  Christ 
must  die  before  the  impulse  shall  be  given  to  us,  which 
shall  make  us  able  to  tread,  however  falteringly  and 
far  behind,  in  His  footsteps. 

The  essence  of  His  life  and  of  His  death  lies  in  the 
two  things,  entire  suppression  of  personal  will  in  obedi- 
ence to  the  will  of  the  Father,  and  entire  self-sacrifice 
for  the  sake  of  humanity.  And  however  there  is — and 
God  forbid  that  I  should  ever  forget  in  my  preaching 
that  there  is — a  uniqueness  in  that  sacrifice,  in  that 
life,  and  in  that  death,  which  beggars  all  imitation,  and 
needs  and  tolerates  no  repetition  whilst  the  world  lasts, 
still  along  with  this,  there  is  that  which  is  imitable  in 
the  life  and  imitable  in  the  death  of  the  Master.  To 
follow  Jesus  is  to  live  denying  self  for  God,  and  to  live 
sacrificing  self  for  men.  Nothing  less  than  these  are 
included  in  the  solemn  words,  '  leaving  us ' — even  in  the 
act  and  article  of  death  when  He  '  suffered  for  us ' — '  an 
example  that  we  should  follow  His  steps.' 

The  word  rendered  '  example '  refers  to  the  headline 
which  the  writing-master  gives  his  pupils  to  copy,  line 
by  line.  We  all  know  how  clumsy  the  pothooks  and 
hangers  are,  how  blurred  the  page  with  many  a  blot. 
And  yet  there,  at  the  top  of  it,  stands  the  Master's  fair 
writing,  and  though  even  the  last  line  on  the  page  will 
be  blotted  and  blurred,  when  we  turn  it  over  and  begin 


240  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiii. 

on  the  new  leaf,  the  copy  will  be  like  the  original,  *  and 
we  shall  be  like  Him,  for  we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is.' 
'Thou  shalt  follow  Me  afterwards'  is  a  commandment ; 
blessed  be  God,  it  is  also  a  promise.  For  let  us  not  for- 
get that  the  '  following '  ends  in  an  attaining ;  even 
as  the  Lord  Himself  has  said  in  another  connection, 
when  He  spake :  '  If  any  man  serve  Me,  let  him  follow 
Me,  and  where  I  am,  there  shall  also  My  servant  be.' 
Of  course,  if  we  follow,  we  shall  come  to  the  same  place 
one  day.  And  so  the  great  promise  will  be  fulfilled; 
'they  shall  follow  the  Lamb,'  in  that  higher  life, 
•  whithersoever  He  goeth ';  and  not  as  here  imperfectly, 
and  far  behind,  but  close  beside  Him,  and  keeping  step 
for  step,  being  with  Him  first,  and  following  Him 
afterwards. 

But  let  us  remember  that  with  regard  to  that  future 
following  and  its  completeness,  the  same  present  in- 
capacity applies,  as  clogs  and  mars  the  '  following,' 
which  is  conforming  our  lives  to  His.  For,  as  He  Him- 
self has  said  to  us,  *  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you,' 
and  until  He  had  passed  through  death  and  into  His 
glory,  there  was  no  standing-ground  for  human  feet  on 
the  golden  pavements,  and  heaven  was  inaccessible  to 
man  until  Christ  had  died.  Thus,  as  all  life  is  changed 
when  it  is  looked  upon  as  being  a  following  of  Jesus,  so 
death  becomes  altogether  other  when  it  is  so  regarded. 
The  first  martyr  outside  the  city  wall,  bruised  and  bat- 
tered by  the  cruel  stones,  remembered  his  Master's 
death,  and  shaped  his  own  to  be  like  it.  As  Jesus, 
when  He  died,  had  said:  'Father,  into  Thy  hands  I 
commend  My  spirit,'  Stephen,  dying,  said  :  '  Lord  Jesus, 
receive  My  spirit.'  As  the  Master  had  given  His  last 
breath  to  the  prayer,  '  Father,  forgive  them ;  they  know 
not  what  they  do,'  so  Stephen  shaped  his  last  utterance 


vs.  37, 38]  QUO  VADIS?  241 

to  a  conformity  with  his  Lord's,  in  which  the  difference 
is  as  significant  as  the  likeness,  and  said,  '  Lord,  lay  not 
this  sin  to  their  charge.'  And  then,  as  tho  record 
beautifully  says,  amidst  all  that  wild  hubbub  and  cruel 
assault,  'he  fell  on  sleep,'  as  a  child  on  its  mother's 
breast.  Death  is  changed  when  it  becomes  the  follow- 
ing of  Christ. 

II.  We  have  here  a  rash  vow. 

'  I  will  lay  down  my  life  for  Thy  sake.'  What  a 
strange  inversion  of  parts  is  here !  '  Lay  down  thy  life 
for  My  sake ' — with  Calvary  less  than  f our-and-twenty 
hours  off,  when  Christ  laid  down  His  life  for  Peter's 
sake.  Peter  was  guilty  of  an  anachronism  in  the  words, 
for  the  time  did  not  come  for  the  disciple  to  die  for  his 
Lord  till  after  the  Lord  had  died  for  His  disciple.  But  he 
was  right  in  feeling,  though  he  felt  it  only  in  regard  to  an 
external  and  physical  act,  that  to  follow  Jesus,  it  was 
necessary  to  be  ready  to  die  for  Him.  And  that  is  the 
great  truth  which  underlies  and  half  redeems  the  rash- 
ness of  this  vow,  and  needs  to  be  laid  upon  our  hearts,  if 
we  are  ever  to  be  the  true  followers  of  the  Master.  Death 
for  Christ  is  necessary  if  we  are  to  follow  Him.  There 
is  nothing  that  a  man  can  do  deeply  and  truly,  in  a 
manner  worthy  of  a  Christian,  which  has  not  under- 
lying it,  either  the  death  of  self-will  and  all  the  godless 
nature,  or  if  need  be  the  actual  physical  death,  which 
is  a  much  smaller  matter.  You  cannot  follow  Christ 
except  you  die  daily.  No  man  has  ever  yet  trodden 
in  His  footsteps  except  on  condition  of,  moment  by 
moment,  slaying  self,  suppressing  self,  abjuring  self, 
breaking  the  connection  of  self  with  the  material 
world,  and  yielding  up  himself  as  a  living  sacrifice,  in  a 
living  death,  to  the  Lord  of  life  and  death.  Do  not 
think  that  'following  Christ'  is  a  mere  sentimental 
VOL.  II.  O 


242  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.  xiii. 

expression  for  so  much  morality  as  we  can  conveniently 
get  into  our  daily  life.  But  remember  that  here,  with 
all  his  rashness,  with  all  his  ignorance,  with  all  his 
superficiality,  the  Apostle  has  laid  hold  upon  the  great 
permanent,  but  alas !  much-forgotten  principle,  that  to 
die  is  essential  to  following  Jesus. 

This  daily  dying,  which  is  a  far  harder  thing  to  do 
than  to  go  to  a  cross  once,  and  have  done  with  it — was 
impossible  for  Peter  then,  though  he  did  not  know  it. 
His  vow  was  a  rash  one,  because  the  laying  down  of 
Christ's  life,  for  Peter's  sake  and  for  ours,  had  not  yet 
been  accomplished.  There  is  the  motive-power  by 
which,  and  by  which  alone,  drawn  in  gratitude,  and 
melted  down  from  all  our  selfishness,  we,  too,  in  our 
measure  and  our  turn,  are  able  to  yield  ourselves,  in 
daily  crucifixion  of  our  evil,  and  daily  abnegation  of 
self-trust,  and  self-pleasing,  and  self-will,  to  the  Lord 
that  has  died  for  us.  He  must  lay  down  His  life  for  our 
sakes,  and  we  must  know  He  has  done  it,  and  rest  upon 
Him  as  our  great  Sacrifice  and  our  atoning  Priest,  or 
else  we  shall  never  be  so  loosed  from  the  tyranny  of 
self  as  to  be  ready  to  live  by  dying,  and  to  die  that  we 
may  live  for  His  sake.  '  I  go  to  Rome  to  be  crucified 
again '  were  the  words  in  which  the  old  legend  braced 
the  fugitive  and  made  a  hero  of  him,  and  sent  him  back 
to  be  crucified  like  his  Lord  and  to  offer  up  his  physical 
life,  as  he  had  long  since  offered  up  his  self-will  and  his 
arrogance  to  the  Lord  that  had  died  for  him. 

O  Lord  our  Father !  help  us,  we  beseech  Thee,  that  we 
may  be  of  the  sheep  that  hear  the  Shepherd's  voice  and 
follow  Him.  Strengthen  our  faith  in  that  dear  Lord 
who  has  laid  down  His  life  for  us,  that  we  may  daily,  by 
self-denial  and  self-sacrifice,  lay  down  our  lives  for  Him, 
and  follow  Him  here  in  all  the  footsteps  of  His  love. 


A  RASH  VOW 

Jesus  answered  him.  Wilt  thou  lay  down  thy  life  for  My  sake  ?  Verily,  verily. 
I  say  unto  thee.  The  cock  shall  not  crow,  till  thou  hast  denied  Me  thrice.'— 
John  xiii.  38. 

In  the  last  sermon  I  partly  considered  the  dialogue 
of  which  this  is  the  concluding  portion,  and  found 
that  it  consisted  of  an  audacious  question:  'Why 
canuot  I  follow  Thee  now?'  which  really  meant  a 
contradiction  of  our  Lord ;  of  a  rash  vow :  '  I  will 
lay  down  my  life  for  Thy  sake' — and  of  a  sad  fore- 
cast :  '  The  cock  shall  not  crow  till  thou  hast  denied 
Me  thrice.'  I  paused  in  the  middle  of  considering  the 
second  of  these  three  stages,  the  rash  vow.  I  then 
pointed  out  that,  however  ignorant  the  Apostle  was 
of  what  'following  Christ'  meant,  he  had  hit  the 
mark,  and  stumbled  unknowingly  upon  the  very 
essence  of  the  Christian  life,  and  an  eternal  truth, 
when  he  recognised  that,  somehow  or  other,  to 
•  follow  Christ '  meant  to  die  for  Him.  That  is  so, 
and  is  so  always,  for  there  is  no  following  Christ 
which  is  not  a  'dying  daily,'  by  self-immolation  and 
detachment  from  the  world,  and  from  the  life  of  sense 
and  self.  But  this  rash  vow  has  to  be  looked  at  from  a 
somewhat  different  point  of  view,  and  we  have  to 
consider  not  only  the  strangely  blended  right  and 
wrong,  error  and  deep  truth,  that  lie  in  its  substance, 
but  the  strangely  blended  right  and  wrong  in  the 
state  of  feeling  and  thought,  on  the  part  of  the 
Apostle,  which  it  represents.  And  taking  up  the 
dropped  thread,  I  first  deal  with  that,  and  then  with 
the  sad  forecast  which  follows. 

So  then,  looking  at  these  words  as  being  like  all 

MS 


244  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.  xiii. 

our  words,  even  the  best  of  them,  strangely  mingled 
of  right  and  wrong,  good  and  evil,  I  find  in  them — 

I.  A  noble,  sincere,  but  transient  emotion  and 
impulse. 

'  I  will  lay  down  my  life  for  Thy  sake.'  Peter  meant 
it,  every  word  of  it;  and  he  would  have  done  it  too, 
if  only  a  gibbet  or  cross  could  have  been  set  up  then 
and  there  in  the  upper  room.  But  unfortunately  the 
moments  of  elevation  and  high-wrought  enthusiasm, 
and  the  calls  to  martyrdom,  do  not  always  coincide. 
In  the  upper  room,  with  its  sacred  atmosphere,  it  was 
easy  to  feel,  and  would  have  been  easy  to  do,  nobly. 
But  it  was  not  so  easy,  lying  drowsily  in  Gethsemane, 
in  the  cold  spring  night,  waiting  for  the  Master's 
coming  out  from  beneath  the  trembling  shadows  of  the 
olive  trees,  or  huddled  up  by  the  fire  at  the  lower  end 
of  the  hall  in  the  grey  morning,  when  vitality  is  at  its 
lowest. 

So  the  sincere,  noble  utterance  was  but  the  ex- 
pression of  impulse  and  emotion  which  lifted  Peter 
for  a  moment,  and  did  him  good,  but  which  likewise, 
running  through  him,  left  him  dry,  and  all  the  weaker 
because  of  the  gush  of  feeling  which  had  foamed  itself 
away  in  empty  words.  For  let  us  never  forget  that 
however  high,  noble,  or  divinely  inspired  emotion  may 
be,  in  its  nature  it  is  transient  and  is  sure  to  be 
followed  by  reaction.  Like  the  winter  torrents  in 
some  parched  land,  the  more  they  foam,  the  more 
speedily  does  the  bed  of  them  dry  up  again,  and  the 
more  they  carry  down  the  very  soil  in  which  growth 
and  fertility  would  be  possible.  A  rush  of  feeling  is 
apt  to  leave  behind  hard,  insensitive  rock.  There  is 
a  close  connection  between  a  predominantly  emotional 
Christianity  and  a  very  imperfect  life.    Feeling  is  apt 


V.38]  A  RASH  VOW  245 

to  be  a  substitiito  for  action.  Is  it  not  a  very  rejuark- 
able  thing  that  the  word  'benevolence,'  which  means 
'kindly  feeling,'  has  come  to  take  on  the  meaning 
rightly  belonging  to  '  beneficence,'  which  means  '  kindly 
doing'?  The  emotional  man  blinds  and  hoodwinks 
himself,  by  thinking  that  his  quick  sensibility  and 
lofty  enthusiasm  and  warmth  of  emotion  are  action 
or  as  good  as  action.  'Be  thou  warmed  and  filled,' 
he  says  to  his  brother,  and,  in  a  lazy  expansion  of 
heart,  forgets  that  he  has  never  lifted  a  finger  to  help. 

God  forbid  that  I  should  seem  to  deprecate  emotional 
religion  or  religious  emotion!  that  is  the  last  thing 
that  needs  to  be  done  in  this  generation.  If  the 
Churches  want  one  thing  more  than  another,  it  is  that 
their  Christianity  should  become  far  more  emotional 
than  it  is,  and  their  impulses  stronger,  swifter,  more 
spontaneous,  more  overmastering,  and  that  they 
should  be  urged  by  these,  and  not  merely  by  the 
reluctant  recognition  that  such  and  such  a  piece  of 
sacrifice  or  effort  is  a  debt  that  they  are  obliged  to 
clear  off.  Their  service  will  be  glad  service,  only  when 
it  is  impulsive  service  and  emotional  service.  Dear 
brethren,  a  Christian  man  whose  life  is  not  influenced 
by  the  deepest  and  most  fervid  emotion  of  love  to 
the  great  Love  that  died  for  him,  is  a  monster.  '  The 
Lord's  fire  is  in  Jerusalem,  and  His  furnace  in  Zion' 
— is  that  a  description  of  the  fervour  of  this  Church, 
or  of  any  Church  in  Christendom?  A  furnace?  An 
ice-house!  Think  of  some  deserted  cottage,  with  the 
roof  fallen  in,  and  in  the  cold  chimney-place  a  rusty 
grate  with  some  dead  embers  in  it,  and  the  snow 
lying  upon  the  top  of  it — that  is  a  truer  description 
of  a  great  many  of  our  churches  than  'the  Lord's 
furnace.' 


246  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.xiii. 

But  the  lesson  to  be  taken  from  this  incident  before 
us  is  not  the  danger  of  emotion;  it  is  rather  the 
necessity  of  emotion,  but  with  two  provisoes,  that  it 
shall  be  emotion  based  upon  a  clear  recognition  of 
the  great  truth  that  He  has  laid  down  His  life  for  me ; 
and  that  it  shall  be  emotion  harnessed  to  work,  and 
not  wasted  in  words.  The  mightier  the  plunge  of  the 
fall,  the  more  electrical  energy  you  can  get  out  of  it, 
and  set  that  to  work  to  drive  the  wheels  of  life.  Do 
not  be  afraid  of  emotion ;  you  will  make  little  of  your 
Christianity  unless  you  have  it.  But  be  sure  that  it 
is  under  the  guidance  of  a  clear  perception  of  the 
truth  that  evokes  it,  and  that  it  is  all  used  to  turn 
the  wheels  of  life.  '  Better  is  it  that  thou  shouldest 
not  vow,  than  that  thou  shouldest  vow  and  not  pay.' 
Better  is  it  that  emotion  should  be  reticent  and 
active  than  that  it  should  be  voluble  and  idle.  It  is 
a  good  servant,  but  a  bad  master.  A  man  that  trusts 
to  impulse  and  emotion  to  further  his  Christian 
course,  is  like  a  ship  in  that  belt  of  variable  winds 
that  lies  near  the  Equator,  where  there  will  be  a 
fine  ten-knot  breeze  for  an  hour  or  two,  and  then  a 
sickly,  stagnating  calm.  Push  further  south,  and  get 
into  the  steady  'trades,'  where  the  wind  blows  with 
equable  and  persistent  force  all  the  year  round  in  the 
same  direction.  Convert  impulses  and  emotions  into 
steadfast  principle,  warmed  by  emotion  and  borne  on 
by  impulse. 

II.  Again,  this  rash  vow  is  an  illustration  of  a  con- 
fidence, also  strangely  blended  of  good  and  evil. 

'  I  will  lay  down  my  life  for  Thy  sake.'  As  I  have 
said,  Peter  meant  it.  His  words  are  paralleled  by 
other  words,  in  which  two  of  the  Lord's  disciples 
answered  His  solemn  question:  'Are  ye  able  to  drink 


V.38]  A  RASH  VOW  247 

of  the  cup  that  I  drink  of?'  with  the  unhesitating 
answer,  '  We  are  able.'  A  great  teacher  has  regarded 
that  saying  as  one  of  '  the  ventures  of  faith.'  Perhaps 
it  was.  Perhaps  there  was  as  much  self-confidence  as 
faith  in  it.  Certainly  there  was  more  self-confidence 
than  faith  in  Peter's  answer,  and  his  self-confidence 
collapsed  when  the  trial  came. 

The  world  and  the  Church  hold  entirely  antagonistic 
notions  about  the  value  of  self-reliance.  The  world  says 
that  it  is  a  condition  of  power.  The  Church  says 
that  it  is  the  root  of  weakness.  Self-confidence  shuts 
a  man  out  from  the  help  of  God,  and  so  shuts  him 
out  from  the  source  of  power.  For  if  you  will  think 
for  a  moment,  you  will  see  that  the  faith  which  the 
New  Testament,  in  conformity  with  all  wise  know- 
ledge of  one's  self,  preaches  as  the  one  secret  of 
power,  has  for  its  obverse — its  other  side — diffidence 
and  self-distrust.  No  man  trusts  God  as  God  ought 
to  be  trusted,  who  does  not  distrust  himself  as  him- 
self ought  to  be  distrusted.  To  level  a  mountain  is 
the  only  way  to  carry  the  water  across  where  it  stood. 
You  can,  by  mechanism  and  locks,  take  a  canal  up  to 
the  top  of  a  hill,  but  you  cannot  take  a  river  up  to 
the  top,  and  the  river  of  God's  help  flows  through 
the  valley  and  seeks  the  lowest  levels.  Faith  and 
self-despair  are  the  upper  and  the  under  sides  of  the 
same  thing,  like  some  cunningly-woven  cloth,  the  one 
side  bearing  a  different  pattern  from  the  other,  and 
yet  made  of  the  same  yarn,  and  the  same  threads  pass- 
ing from  the  upper  to  the  under  sides.  So  faith  and 
self-distrust  are  but  two  names  for  one  composite 
whole. 

I  was  once  shown  an  old  Jewish  coin  which  had 
on  the  one  side  the  words  'sackcloth  and  ashes,'  and 


248  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiii. 

on  the  other  side  the  words  'a  crown  of  gold.'  The 
coin  meant  to  contrast  what  Israel  had  been  with 
what  Israel  then  was.  The  crown  had  come  first; 
the  sackcloth  and  ashes  last.  But  we  may  use  it  for 
illustrating  this  point,  on  which  I  am  now  dwelling. 
Wherever,  and  only  where,  there  are  the  sackcloth 
and  ashes  of  self-despair  there  will  be  the  crown  of 
gold  of  an  answering  faith.  When  thus,  as  Wesley 
has  it,  in  his  great  hymn :  '  Confident  in  self-despair,' 
we  cling  to  God,  then  we  can  say :  '  When  I  am  weak 
then  am  I  strong,'  'Behold!  we  have  no  might,  but 
our  eyes  are  upon  Thee.'  If  Peter  had  only  said,  '  By 
Thy  help  I  will  lay  down  my  life  for  Thy  sake,'  his 
confidence  would  have  been  reasonable  and  blessed 
self-confidence,  because  it  would  have  been  confidence 
in  a  self  inspired  by  divine  power. 

And  so,  brethren,  whilst  utter  diffidence  is  right  for 
us,  and  is  the  condition  of  all  our  reception  of  energy 
according  to  our  need,  the  most  absolute  confidence — 
a  confidence  which,  to  the  eye  of  the  man  that 
measures  only  visible  things,  will  seem  sheer  insanity 
— is  sobriety  for  a  Christian.  The  world  is  perfectly 
right  when  it  says :  '  If  you  believe  you  can  do  a 
thing,  you  have  gone  a  long  way  towards  doing  it.' 
The  expectation  of  success  has  often  the  knack  of 
fulfilling  itself.  But  the  world  does  not  know  our 
secret,  and  our  secret  is  that  our  humble  faith  brings 
into  the  field  the  reserves  with  the  Captain  of  our 
salvation  at  their  head.  Therefore  a  self-distrusting 
Christian  can  say,  and  say  without  exaggeration  or 
presumption,  '  I  can  do  all  things  in  Christ,  strengthen- 
ing me  from  within.' 

The  Church's  ideals  are  possibilities,  when  you  bring 
God  into  the  account,  and  they  look  like  insanity  when 


V.  38]  A  RASH  VOW  249 

you  do  not.  Take,  for  instance,  missions.  What  an 
absurdity  to  talk  about  a  handful  of  Christian  people — 
for  we  are  only  a  handful  as  compared  with  the  whole 
world — carrying  their  Gospel  into  every  corner  of  the 
earth,  and  finding  everywhere  a  response  to  it.  Yes; 
it  is  absurd ;  but,  wise  Mr.  Calculator,  counter  of  heads, 
you  have  forgotten  God  in  your  estimate  of  whether  it  is 
reasonable  or  unreasonable.  Again,  take  the  Christian 
ideal  of  absolute  perfection  of  character.  'What 
nonsense  to  talk  as  if  any  man  could  ever  come  to  that.' 
Yes ! — as  if  any  ina7i  could  come  to  that,  I  grant  you. 
But  if  God  is  with  him,  the  nonsense  is  to  suppose  that 
he  will  not  come  to  it.  Here  is  a  row  of  cyphers  as 
long  as  your  arm.  They  mean  nothing.  Put  a  1  at 
the  left-hand  end  of  the  row ;  and  what  does  it  mean 
then?  So  the  faith  that  brings  Christ  into  the  life,  and 
into  the  Church,  makes  'nobodies'  into  mighty  men 
— 'laughs  at  impossibilities,  and  cries,  It  shall  be 
done ! ' 

Still  further,  here,  in  this  rash  vow,  we  have  an 
underestimate  of  difficulties.  There  was  another 
incident  in  the  life  of  the  Apostle,  a  strange  replica 
of  this  one,  into  which  he  pushed  himself,  just  as  he 
did  into  the  high  priest's  hall,  partly  out  of  curiosity 
and  a  wish  to  be  prominent ;  partly  out  of  love  to  his 
Master.  Without  a  moment's  consideration  of  the 
peril  into  which  he  was  thrusting  himself,  he  sat  in 
the  boat,  and  said,  *  Bid  me  come  to  Thee  on  the  water.' 
He  forgot  that  He  was  heavy,  and  that  water  was  not 
solid,  and  that  the  wind  was  high  and  the  lake  rough, 
and  when  he  put  his  foot  over  the  side  and  felt  the 
cold  waves  creeping  up  his  knees,  his  courage  ebbed 
out  with  his  faith,  and  he  began  to  sink.  Then  he 
cried,   'Lord!    help  me!'     If   he  had    thought  for  a 


250  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiii. 

moment  of  the  reality  of  the  case,  he  would  have  sat 
still  in  the  boat.  If  he  had  thought  of  what  would  be 
in  his  way  in  following  Jesus  to  death,  he  would  have 
hesitated  to  vow.  But  it  is  so  much  easier  to  resolve 
heroisms  in  a  quiet  corner  than  to  do  them  when  the 
strain  comes,  and  it  is  so  much  easier  to  do  some  one 
great  thing  that  has  in  it  enthusiasm  and  nobility,  and 
conspicuousness  of  sacrifice,  especially  if  it  can  be  got 
over  in  a  moment,  like  having  one's  head  cut  off  with 
an  axe,  than  it  is  to  '  die  daily.'  Ah !  brethren,  it  is  the 
little  difficulties  that  make  the  difficulty.  You  read  in 
the  newspapers  in  the  autumn,  every  now  and  then,  of 
trains,  in  that  wonderful  country  across  the  water, 
being  stopped  by  caterpillars.  The  Christian  train  is 
stopped  by  an  army  of  caterpillars,  far  oftener  than  it 
is  by  some  solid  and  towering  barrier.  Our  Christian 
lives  are  a  great  deal  likelier  to  come  to  failure, 
because  we  do  not  take  into  account  the  multiplied 
small  antagonisms  than  because  we  are  not  ready  to 
face  the  greater  ones.  What  would  you  think  of  a 
bridge-builder,  who  built  a  bridge  across  some  moun- 
tain torrent  and  made  no  allowance  for  freshets  and 
floods  when  the  ice  melted  ?  His  bridge  and  his  piers 
would  be  gone  the  first  winter.  You  remember  who  it 
was  that  said  that  he  went  into  the  Franco- German 
War '  with  a  light  heart,'  and  in  seven  weeks  came  Sedan 
and  the  dethronement  of  an  Emperor,  and  the  surrender 
of  an  army.  '  Blessed  is  he  that  f  eareth  always.'  There 
is  no  more  fatal  error  than  an  underestimate  of  our 
difficulties. 

III.  Let  me  say  a  word  about  the  sad  forecast  here. 

'  Thou  shalt  deny  me  thrice.' 

We  cannot  say  that  poor  Peter's  fall  was  at  all  an 
anomB.lpus  or  uncommon  thing.    He  did  exactly  what 


V.38]  A  RASH  VOW  251 

a  great  many  of  us  are  doing.  He  could — and  I  have 
no  doubt  he  would — have  gone  to  the  death  for  Jesus 
Christ ;  but  he  could  not  stand  being  laughed  at  for 
Him.  He  would  have  been  ready  to  meet  the  execu- 
tioner's sharp  sword,  but  the  servant-girl's  sharp 
tongue  was  more  than  he  could  bear.  And  so  he 
denied  Jesus,  not  because  he  was  afraid  of  his  skin — 
for  I  do  not  suppose  that  the  servants  had  any  notion 
of  doing  anything  more  than  amusing  themselves  with 
a  few  clumsy  gibes  at  his  expense — but  because  he  could 
not  bear  to  be  made  sport  of. 

Now,  dear  brethren,  I  suppose  we  are  all  of  us  more 
or  less  movers  in  circles  in  which  it  sometimes  is  not 
considered  '  good  form '  to  show  that  we  are  Christian 
people.  You  young  men  in  your  warehouses,  you 
students  at  the  University,  where  it  is  a  sign  of  being 
*  fossils '  and  '  behind  the  times '  and  '  not  up  to  date '  to 
say  *  I  am  a  Christian,'  and  all  of  us  in  our  several  places 
have  sometimes  to  gather  our  courage  together,  and 
not  be  afraid  to  declare  whose  we  are.  No  doubt  life  is 
a  better  witness  than  words,  but  no  doubt  also  life  is  not 
so  good  a  witness  as  it  might  be,  unless  it  sometimes 
has  the  commentary  of  words  as  well.  Thus,  to  confess 
Christ  means  two  things ;  to  say  sometimes — in  the 
face  of  a  smile  of  scorn,  which  is  often  harder  to  bear 
than  something  much  more  dangerous — 'I  am  His,' 
and  to  live  Christ,  and  to  say  by  conduct  '  I  am  His.' 
'Whosoever  shall  confess  Me  before  men,  him  will  I 
also  confess  before  My  Father,  and  whosoever  shall 
deny  Me,  him  will  I  also  deny.'  Do  not  button  your 
coats  over  your  uniform.  Do  not  take  the  cockade  out 
of  your  hats  when  you  go  amongst  'the  other  side.' 
Live  Jesus,  and,  when  advisable,  preach  Jesus. 

But  Peter's  fall,  which  is  typical  of  what  we  are  all 


252  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.  xiii. 

tempted  to  do,  has  in  it  a  gracious  message ;  for  it 
proclaims  the  possibility  of  recovery  from  any  depth 
of  descent,  and  of  coming  back  again  from  any  distance 
of  wandering.  Did  you  ever  notice  how  Peter's  fall 
was  burnt  in  upon  his  memory,  so  as  that  when  he 
began  to  preach  after  Pentecost,  the  shape  that  his 
indictment  of  his  hearers  takes  is,  '  Ye  denied  the  Holy 
One  and  the  Just,'  and  how,  long  after — if  the  second 
Epistle  which  goes  by  his  name  is  his — in  summing  up 
the  crimes  of  the  heretics  whom  he  is  branding,  he 
speaks  of  their  'denying  the  Lord  that  bought  them.' 
He  never  forgot  his  denial,  and  it  remained  with  him 
as  the  expression  for  all  that  was  wrong  in  a  man's 
relation  to  Jesus  Christ.  And  I  suppose  not  only  was 
it  burnt  in  upon  his  memory,  but  it  burnt  out  all  his  self- 
confidence.  It  is  beautiful  to  see  how,  in  his  letter,  he 
speaks  over  and  over  again  of  '  fear '  as  being  a  wise 
temper  of  mind  for  a  Christian.  As  George  Herbert  has 
it,  'A  sad,  wise  valour  is  the  true  complexion.'  Thus 
the  man  that  had  been  so  confident  in  himself  learned 
to  say  '  Be  ready  to  give  to  every  man  that  asketh  you 
a  reason  for  the  hope  that  is  in  you,  with  meekness 
and  fear.' 

And  do  you  not  think  that  his  fall  drew  him  closer 
to  Jesus  Christ  than  ever  he  had  been  before,  as  he 
learned  more  of  His  pardoning  love  and  mercy  ?  Was 
he  not  nearer  the  Lord  on  that  morning  when  the 
two  together,  alone,  talked  after  the  Resurrection? 
Was  he  not  nearer  Him  when  he  struggled  to  his  feet 
from  the  boat  on  the  lake,  on  that  morning  when  he 
was  received  back  into  his  office  as  Christ's  Apostle  ? 
Did  he  ever  forget  how  he  had  sinned  ?  Did  he  ever 
forget  how  Christ  had  pardoned  ?  Did  he  ever  forget 
how  Christ  loved  and  would  keep  him  ?    Ah,  no !    The 


V.38]     FAITH  IN  GOD  AND  CHRIST      253 

rope  that  is  broken  is  strongest  where  it  is  spliced,  not 
because  it  was  broken,  but  because  a  cunning  hand 
has  strengthened  it.  We  may  be  the  stronger  for  our 
sins,  not  because  sin  strengthens,  for  it  weakens,  but 
because  God  restores.  It  is  possible  that  we  may  build 
a  fairer  structure  on  the  ruins  of  our  old  selves.  It  is 
possible  that  we  may  turn  every  field  of  defeat  into  a 
field  of  victory.    It  is  possible  that  we  may 

•  Fall  to  rise ;  be  beaten,  to  fight  better.' 

If  only  we  cling  to  the  Lord  our  Strength,  the 
promise  shall  be  ours — whatever  our  failures,  denials, 
backslidings,  inconsistencies — 'though  he  fall  he  shall 
not  be  utterly  cast  down,  for  the  Lord  upholdeth  him 
with  His  hand.' 


FAITH  IN  GOD  AND  CHRIST 

'  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled  .  .  .  believe  in  God,  believe  also  in  Me.' 

John  xiv.  1. 

The  twelve  were  sitting  in  the  upper  chamber,  stupe- 
fied with  the  dreary,  half-understood  prospect  of 
Christ's  departure.  He,  forgetting  His  own  burden, 
turns  to  comfort  and  encourage  them.  These  sweet 
and  great  words  most  singularly  blend  gentleness  and 
dignity.  Who  can  reproduce  the  cadence  of  soothing 
tenderness,  soft  as  a  mother's  hand,  in  that '  Let  not 
your  heart  be  troubled '  ?  And  who  can  fail  to  feel  the 
tone  of  majesty  in  that  'Believe  in  God,  believe  also 
in  Me'? 

The  Greek  presents  an  ambiguity  in  the  latter  half  of 
the  verse,  for  the  verb  may  be  either  indicative  or 
imperative,  and  so  we  may  read  four  different  ways, 


254  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xiv. 

according  as  we  render  each  of  the  two  '  believes '  in 
either  of  these  two  fashions.  Our  Authorised  and 
Revised  Versions  concur  in  adopting  the  indicative  '  Ye 
believe '  in  the  former  clause  and  the  imperative  in  the 
latter.  But  I  venture  to  think  that  we  get  a  more  true 
and  appropriate  meaning  if  we  keep  both  clauses  in 
the  same  mood,  and  read  them  both  as  imperatives: 
'  Believe  in  God,  believe  also  in  Me.'  It  would  be  harsh, 
I  think,  to  take  one  as  an  affirmation  and  the  other  as 
a  command.  It  would  be  irrelevant,  I  think,  to  remind 
the  disciples  of  their  belief  in  God.  It  would  break  the 
unity  of  the  verse  and  destroy  the  relation  of  the  latter 
half  to  the  former,  the  former  being  a  negative  precept: 
*  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled  ';  and  the  latter  being  a 
positive  one  :  '  Instead  of  being  troubled,  believe  in  God, 
and  believe  in  Me.'  So,  for  all  these  reasons,  I  venture 
to  adopt  the  reading  I  have  indicated. 

I.  Now  in  these  words  the  first  thing  that  strikes  me 
is  that  Christ  here  points  to  Himself  as  the  object  of 
precisely  the  same  religious  trust  which  is  to  be  given 
to  God. 

It  is  only  our  familiarity  with  these  words  that  blinds 
us  to  their  wonderfulness  and  their  greatness.  Try 
to  hear  them  for  the  first  time,  and  to  bring  into  re- 
membrance the  circumstances  in  which  they  were 
spoken.  Here  is  a  man  sitting  among  a  handful  of  His 
friends,  who  is  within  four-and-twenty  hours  of  a 
shameful  death,  which  to  all  appearance  was  the  utter 
annihilation  of  all  His  claims  and  hopes,  and  He  says, 
'  Trust  in  God,  and  trust  in  Me ' !  I  think  that  if  we  had 
heard  that  for  the  first  time,  we  should  have  under- 
stood a  little  better  than  some  of  us  do  the  depth  of 
its  meaning. 

What  is  it  that  Christ  asks  for  here  ?    Or  rather  let 


V.  1]      FAITH  IN  GOD  AND  CHRIST        255 

me  say,  What  is  it  that  Christ  offers  to  us  here  ?  For 
we  must  not  look  at  the  words  as  a  demand  or  as 
a  command,  but  rather  as  a  merciful  invitation  to 
do  what  it  is  life  and  blessing  to  do.  It  is  a  very- 
low  and  inadequate  interpretation  of  these  words 
which  takes  them  as  meaning  little  more  than  '  Believe 
in  God,  believe  that  He  is  ;  believe  in  Me,  believe  that  I 
am.'  But  it  is  scarcely  less  so  to  suppose  that  the  mere 
assent  of  the  understanding  to  His  teaching  is  all  that 
Christ  is  asking  for  here.  By  no  means ;  what  He 
invites  us  to  goes  a  great  deal  deeper  than  that.  The 
essence  of  it  is  an  act  of  the  will  and  of  the  heart, 
not  of  the  understanding  at  all.  A  man  may  believe  in 
Him  as  a  historical  person,  may  accept  all  that  is  said 
about  Him  here,  and  yet  not  be  within  sight  of  the 
trust  in  Him  of  which  He  here  speaks.  For  the  essence 
of  the  whole  is  not  the  intellectual  process  of  assent  to 
a  proposition,  but  the  intensely  personal  act  of  yielding 
up  will  and  heart  to  a  living  person.  Faith  does  not 
grasp  a  doctrine,  but  a  heart.  The  trust  which  Christ 
requires  is  the  bond  that  unites  souls  with  Him ;  and 
the  very  life  of  it  is  entire  committal  of  myself  to  Him 
in  all  my  relations  and  for  all  my  needs,  and  absolute 
utter  confidence  in  Him  as  all-sufficient  for  everything 
that  ■  I  can  require.  Let  us  get  away  from  the  cold 
intellectualism  of  '  belief '  into  the  warm  atmosphere  of 
*  trust,'  and  we  shall  understand  better  than  by  many 
volumes  what  Christ  here  means  and  the  sphere  and 
the  power  and  the  blessedness  of  that  faith  which 
Christ  requires. 

Further,  note  that,  whatever  may  be  this  believing  in 
Him  which  He  asks  from  us  or  invites  us  to  render,  it  is 
precisely  the  same  thing  which  He  bids  us  render  to  God. 
The  two  clauses  in  the  original  bring  out  that  idea  even 


256  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xiv. 

more  vividly  than  in  our  version,  because  the  order  of 
the  words  in  the  latter  clause  is  inverted;  and  they 
read  literally  thus :  *  Believe  in  God,  in  Me  also  believe.' 
The  purpose  of  the  inversion  is  to  put  these  two,  God 
and  Christ,  as  close  together  as  possible  ;  and  to  put  the 
two  identical  emotions  at  the  beginning  and  at  the  end, 
at  the  two  extremes  and  outsides  of  the  whole  sentence. 
Could  language  be  more  deliberately  adopted  and 
moulded,  even  in  its  consecution  and  arrangement,  to 
enforce  this  thought,  that  whatever  it  is  that  we  give  to 
Christ,  it  is  the  very  same  thing  that  we  give  to  God  ? 
And  so  He  here  proposes  Himself  as  the  worthy  and 
adequate  recipient  of  all  these  emotions  of  confidence, 
submission,  resignation,  which  make  up  religion  in  its 
deepest  sense. 

That  tone  is  by  no  means  singular  in  this  place.  It  is  the 
uniform  tone  and  characteristic  of  our  Lord's  teaching. 
Let  me  remind  you  just  in  a  sentence  of  one  or  two 
instances.  What  did  He  think  of  Himself  who  stood 
up  before  the  world  and,  with  arms  outstretched,  like 
that  great  white  Christ  in  Thorwaldsen's  lovely  statue, 
said  to  all  the  troop  of  languid  and  burdened  and 
fatigued  ones  crowding  at  His  feet :  '  Come  unto  Me  all 
ye  that  are  weary  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give 
you  rest '  ?  That  surely  is  a  divine  prerogative.  What 
did  He  think  of  Himself  who  said,  '  All  men  should 
honour  the  Son  even  as  they  honour  the  Father'? 
What  did  He  think  of  Himself  who,  in  that  very 
Sermon  on  the  Mount  (to  which  the  advocates  of  a 
maimed  and  mutilated  Christianity  tell  us  they  pin  their 
faith,  instead  of  to  mystical  doctrines)  declared  that  He 
Himself  was  the  Judge  of  humanity,  and  that  all  men 
should  stand  at  His  bar  and  receive  from  Him  '  accord- 
ing to  the  deeds  done  in  their  body '  ?    Upon  any  honest 


Y.l]       FAITH  IN  GOD  AND  CHRIST       257 

principle  of  interpreting  these  Gospels,  and  unless  you 
avowedly  go  picking  and  choosing  amongst  His  words, 
accepting  this  and  rejecting  that,  you  cannot  eliminate 
from  the  scriptural  representation  of  Jesus  Christ  the 
fact  that  He  claimed  as  His  own  the  emotions  of  the 
heart  to  which  only  God  has  a  right  and  only  God 
can  satisfy. 

I  do  not  dwell  upon  that  point,  but  I  say,  in  one 
sentence,  we  have  to  take  that  into  account  if  we  would 
estimate  the  character  of  Jesus  Christ  as  a  Teacher  and 
as  a  Man.  I  would  not  turn  away  from  Him  any 
imperfect  conceptions,  as  they  seem  to  me,  of  His 
nature  and  His  work — rather  would  I  foster  them, 
and  lead  them  on  to  a  fuller  recognition  of  the  full 
Christ — but  this  I  am  bound  to  say,  that  for  my  part  I 
believe  that  nothing  but  the  wildest  caprice,  dealing 
with  the  Gospels  according  to  one's  own  subjective 
fancies,  irrespective  altogether  of  the  evidence,  can 
strike  out  from  the  teaching  of  Christ  this  its  charac- 
teristic difference.  What  signalises  Him,  and  separates 
Him  from  all  other  religious  teachers,  is  not  the  clear- 
ness or  the  tenderness  with  which  He  reiterated  the 
truths  about  the  divine  Father's  love,  or  about  morality, 
and  justice,  and  truth,  and  goodness ;  but  the  peculi- 
arity of  His  call  to  the  world  is,  '  Believe  in  Me.'  And 
if  He  said  that,  or  anything  like  it,  and  if  the  represen- 
tations of  His  teaching  in  these  four  Gospels,  which  are 
the  only  source  from  which  we  get  any  notion  of  Him 
at  all,  are  to  be  accepted,  why,  then,  one  of  two  things 
follows.  Either  He  was  wrong,  and  then  He  was  a  crazy 
enthusiast,  only  acquitted  of  blasphemy  because  con- 
victed of  insanity ;  or  else — or  else — He  was  '  God,  mani- 
fest in  the  flesh.'  It  is  vain  to  bow  down  before  a  fancy 
portrait  of  a  bit  of  Christ,  and  to  exalt  the   humble 

VOL.  II.  R 


258  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xiv. 

sage  of  Nazareth,  and  to  leave  out  the  very  thing  that 
makes  the  difference  between  Him  and  all  others, 
namely,  these  either  audacious  or  most  true  claims 
to  be  the  Son  of  God,  the  worthy  Recipient  and  the 
adequate  Object  of  man's  religious  emotions.  '  Believe 
in  God,  in  Me  also  believe.' 

II.  Now,  secondly,  notice  that  faith  in  Christ  and 
faith  in  God  are  not  two,  but  one. 

These  two  clauses  on  the  surface  present  juxtaposi- 
tion. Looked  at  more  closely  they  present  interpene- 
tration  and  identity.  Jesus  Christ  does  not  merely  set 
Himself  up  by  the  side  of  God,  nor  are  we  worshippers 
of  two  Gods  when  we  bow  before  Jesus  and  bow  before 
the  Father ;  but  faith  in  Christ  is  faith  in  God,  and 
faith  in  God  which  is  not  faith  in  Christ  is  imperfect, 
incomplete,  and  will  not  long  last.  To  trust  in  Hkn  is 
to  trust  in  the  Father  ;  to  trust  in  the  Father  is  to  trust 
in  Him. 

What  is  the  underlying  truth  that  is  here?  How 
comes  it  that  these  two  objects  blend  into  one,  like  two 
jBgures  in  a  stereoscope  ;  and  that  the  faith  which  flows 
to  Jesus  Christ  rests  upon  God?  This  is  the  under- 
lying truth,  that  Jesus  Christ,  Himself  divine,  is  the 
divine  Revealer  of  God.  I  need  not  dwell  upon  the 
latter  of  these  two  thoughts  :  how  there  is  no  real 
knowledge  of  the  real  God  in  the  depth  of  His  love,  the 
tenderness  of  His  nature  or  the  lustrousness  of  His 
holiness ;  how  there  is  no  certitude  ;  how  the  God  that  we 
see  outside  of  Jesus  Christ  is  sometimes  doubt,  some- 
times hope,  sometimes  fear,  always  far-off  and  vague,  an 
abstraction  rather  than  a  person,  '  a  stream  of  tendency' 
without  us,  that  which  is  unnameable,  and  the  like. 
I  need  not  dwell  upon  the  thought  that  Jesus  Christ 
has  showed  us  a  Father,  has  brought  a  God  to  our 


v.l]       FAITH  IN  GOD  AND  CHRIST       259 

hearts  whom  we  can  love,  whom  we  can  know  really 
though  not  fully,  of  whom  we  can  be  sure  with  a  certi- 
tude which  is  as  deep  as  the  certitude  of  our  own 
personal  being ;  that  He  has  brought  to  us  a  God  before 
whom  we  do  not  need  to  crouch  far  off,  that  He  has 
brought  to  us  a  God  whom  we  can  trust.  Very  signifi- 
cant is  it  that  Christianity  alone  puts  the  very  heart  of 
religion  in  the  act  of  trust.  Other  religions  put  it 
in  dread,  worship,  service,  and  the  like.  Jesus  Christ 
alone  says,  the  bond  between  men  and  God  is  that 
blessed  one  of  trust.  And  He  says  so  because  He  alone 
brings  us  a  God  whom  it  is  not  ridiculous  to  tell  men 
to  trust. 

And,  on  the  other  hand,  the  truth  that  underlies 
this  is  not  only  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Revealer  of 
God,  but  that  He  Himself  is  divine.  Light  shines 
through  a  window,  but  the  light  and  the  glass  that 
makes  it  visible  have  nothing  in  common  with  one 
another.  The  Godhead  shines  through  Christ,  but  He 
is  not  a  mere  transparent  medium.  It  is  Himself  that 
He  is  showing  us  when  He  is  showing  us  God.  '  He 
that  hath  seen  Me  hath  seen' — not  the  light  that 
streams  through  Me — but  '  hath  seen,'  in  Me,  '  the 
Father.'  And  because  He  is  Himself  divine  and  the 
divine  Revealer,  therefore  the  faith  that  grasps  Him 
is  inseparably  one  with  the  faith  that  grasps  God.  Men 
could  look  upon  a  Moses,  an  Isaiah,  or  a  Paul,  and  in 
them  recognise  the  eradiation  of  the  divinity  that 
imparted  itself  through  them,  but  the  medium  was 
forgotten  in  proportion  as  that  which  it  revealed  was 
beheld.  You  cannot  forget  Christ  in  order  to  see  God 
more  clearly,  but  to  behold  Him  is  to  behold  God. 

And  if  that  be  true,  these  two  things  follow.  One  is 
that  all  imperfect  revelation  of  God  is  prophetic  of, 


260  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.  xiv. 

and  leads  up  towards,  the  perfect  revelation  in  Jesus 
Christ.  The  writer  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  gives 
that  truth  in  a  very  striking  fashion.  He  compares  all 
other  means  of  knowing  God  to  fragmentary  syllables 
of  a  great  word,  of  which  one  was  given  to  one 
man  and  another  to  another.  God  'spoke  at  sundry 
times  and  in  manifold  portions  to  the  fathers  by  the 
prophets ' ;  but  the  whole  word  is  articulately  uttered 
by  the  Son,  in  whom  He  has  '  spoken  unto  us  in  these 
last  times.'  The  imperfect  revelation,  by  means  of 
those  who  were  merely  mediums  for  the  revelation, 
leads  up  to  Him  who  is  Himself  the  Revelation,  the 
Revealer,  and  the  Revealed. 

And  in  like  manner,  all  the  imperfect  faith  that, 
laying  hold  of  other  fragmentary  means  of  knowing 
God,  has  tremulously  tried  to  trust  Him,  finds  its 
climax  and  consummate  flower  in  the  full-blossomed 
faith  that  lays  hold  upon  Jesus  Christ.  The  uncon- 
scious prophecies  of  heathendom ;  the  trust  that  select 
souls  up  and  down  the  world  have  put  in  One 
whom  they  dimly  apprehended;  the  faith  of  the  Old 
Testament  saints ;  the  rudimentary  beginnings  of  a 
knowledge  of  God  and  of  a  trust  in  Him  which  are 
found  in  men  to-day,  and  amongst  us,  outside  of  the 
circle  of  Christianity — all  these  things  are  as  manifestly 
incomplete  as  a  building  reared  half  its  height,  and 
waiting  for  the  corner-stone  to  be  brought  forth,  the  full 
revelation  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  intelligent 
and  full  acceptance  of  Him  and  faith  in  Him. 

And  another  thing  is  true,  that  without  faith  in 
Christ  such  faith  in  God  as  is  possible  is  feeble,  incom- 
plete, and  will  not  long  last.  Historically  a  pure  theism 
is  all  but  impotent.  There  is  only  one  example  of  it 
on  a  large  scale  in  the  world,  and  that  is  a  kind  of 


v.l]       FAITH  IN  GOD  AND  CHRIST       261 

bastard  Christianity — Mohammedanism;  and  we  all 
know  what  good  that  is  as  a  religion.  There  are 
plenty  of  people  amongst  us  nowadays  who  claim  to 
be  very  advanced  thinkers,  and  who  call  themselves 
Theists,  and  not  Christians.  Well,  I  venture  to  say 
that  that  is  a  phase  that  will  not  last.  There  is  little 
substance  in  it.  The  God  whom  men  know  outside  of 
Jesus  Christ  is  a  poor,  nebulous  thing ;  an  idea,  not  a 
reality.  He,  or  rather  It,  is  a  film  of  cloud  shaped  into 
a  vague  form,  through  which  you  can  see  the  stars.  It 
has  little  power  to  restrain.  It  has  less  to  inspire  and 
impel.  It  has  still  less  to  comfort ;  it  has  least  of  all 
to  satisfy  the  heart.  You  will  have  to  get  something 
more  substantial  than  the  far-off  god  of  an  unchristian 
Theism  if  you  mean  to  sway  the  world  and  to  satisfy 
men's  hearts. 

And  so,  dear  brethren,  I  come  to  this — perhaps  the 
word  may  be  fitting  for  some  that  listen  to  me — 
'Believe  in  God,'  and  that  you  may,  'believe  also  in 
Christ.'  For  sure  I  am  that  when  the  stress  comes,  and 
you  loant  a  god,  unless  your  god  is  the  God  revealed  in 
Jesus  Christ,  he  will  be  a  powerless  deity.  If  you  have 
not  faith  in  Christ,  you  will  not  long  have  faith  in  God 
that  is  vital  and  worth  anything. 

III.  Lastly,  this  trust  in  Christ  is  the  secret  of  a  quiet 
heart. 

It  is  of  no  use  to  say  to  men,  '  Let  not  your  hearts  be 
troubled,'  unless  you  finish  the  verse  and  say,  '  Believe 
in  God,  believe  also  in  Christ.'  For  unless  we  trust  we 
shall  certainly  be  troubled.  The  state  of  man  in  this 
world  is  like  that  of  some  of  those  sunny  islands  in 
southern  seas,  around  which  there  often  rave  the 
wildest  cyclones,  and  which  carry  in  their  bosoms, 
beneath  all  their  riotous  luxuriance  of  verdant  beauty, 


262  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

hidden  fires,  which  ever  and  anon  shake  the  solid  earth 
and  spread  destruction.  Storms  without  and  earth- 
quakes within — that  is  the  condition  of  humanity. 
And  where  is  the  'rest'  to  come  from?  All  other 
defences  are  weak  and  poor.  We  have  heard  about 
'  pills  against  earthquakes.'  That  is  what  the  comforts 
and  tranquillising  which  the  world  supplies  may  fairly 
be  likened  to.  Unless  we  trust  we  are,  and  we  shall  be, 
and  should  be,  '  troubled.' 

If  we  trust  we  may  be  quiet.  Trust  is  always 
tranquillity.  To  cast  a  burden  off  myself  on  others' 
shoulders  is  always  a  rest.  But  trust  in  Jesus  Christ 
brings  infinitude  on  my  side.  Submission  is  repose. 
When  we  cease  to  kick  against  the  pricks  they  cease 
to  prick  and  wound  us.  Trust  opens  the  heart,  like 
the  windows  of  the  Ark  tossing  upon  the  black  and 
fatal  flood,  for  the  entrance  of  the  peaceful  dove  with 
the  olive  branch  in  its  mouth.  Trust  brings  Christ 
to  my  side  in  all  His  tenderness  and  greatness  and 
sweetness.  If  I  trust,  'all  is  right  that  seems  most 
wrong.'  If  I  trust,  conscience  is  quiet.  If  I  trust,  life 
becomes  'a  solemn  scorn  of  ills.'  If  I  trust,  inward 
unrest  is  changed  into  tranquillity,  and  mad  passions 
are  cast  out  from  him  that  sits  'clothed  and  in  his 
right  mind '  at  the  feet  of  Jesus. 

'The  wicked  is  like  the  troubled  sea  which  cannot 
rest.'  But  if  I  trust,  my  soul  will  become  like  the 
glassy  ocean  when  all  the  storms  sleep,  and  'birds  of 
peace  sit  brooding  on  the  charmed  wave.'  'Peace  I 
leave  with  you.'  'Let  not  your  hearts  be  troubled. 
Trust  in  God ;  trust  also  in  Me.' 

Help  us,  O  Lord !  to  yield  our  hearts  to  Thy  dear  Son, 
and  in  Him  to  find  Thyself  and  eternal  rest. 


•MANY  MANSIONS' 

'In  My  Father's  house  are  many  mansions:  if  it  were  not  so,  I  would  have 
told  you.'— John  xiv.  2. 

Sorrow  needs  simple  words  for  its  consolation ;  and 
simple  words  are  the  best  clothing  for  the  largest 
truths.  These  eleven  poor  men  were  crushed  and 
desolate  at  the  thought  of  Christ's  going ;  they  fancied 
that  if  He  left  them  they  lost  Him.  And  so,  in  simple, 
childlike  words,  which  the  weakest  could  grasp,  and  in 
which  the  most  troubled  could  find  peace.  He  said  to 
them,  after  having  encouraged  their  trust  in  Him, 
'There  is  plenty  of  room  for  you  as  well  as  for  Me 
where  I  am  going ;  and  the  frankness  of  our  intercourse 
in  the  past  might  make  you  sure  that  if  I  were  going 
to  leave  you  I  would  have  told  you  all  about  it.  Did  I 
ever  hide  from  you  anything  that  was  painful  ?  Did  I 
ever  allure  you  to  follow  Me  by  false  promises  ?  Should 
I  have  kept  silence  about  it  if  our  separation  was  to  be 
eternal  ? '  So,  simply,  as  a  mother  might  hush  her  babe 
upon  her  breast.  He  soothes  their  sorrow.  And  yet,  in 
the  quiet  words,  so  level  to  the  lowest  apprehension, 
there  lie  great  truths,  far  deeper  than  we  yet  have 
appreciated,  and  which  will  enfold  themselves  in  their 
majesty  and  their  greatness  through  eternity.  •  In  My 
Father's  house  are  many  mansions  ;  if  it  were  not  so,  I 
would  have  told  you.' 

I.  Now  note  in  these  words,  first,  the  'Father's  house,' 
and  its  ample  room. 

There  is  only  one  other  occasion  recorded  in  which 
our  Lord  used  this  expression,  and  it  occurs  in  this 
same  Gospel  near  the  beginning ;  where  in  the  narra- 

263 


264  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

tive  of  the  first  cleansing  of  the  Temple  we  read  that 
He  said,  '  Make  not  My  Father's  house  a  house  of 
merchandise.'  The  earlier  use  of  the  words  may  help 
to  throw  light  upon  one  aspect  of  this  latter  employ- 
ment of  it,  for  there  blend  in  the  image  the  two  ideas 
of  what  I  may  call  domestic  familiarity,  and  of  that 
great  future  as  being  the  reality  of  which  the  earthly 
Temple  was  intended  to  be  the  dim  prophecy  and 
shadow.  Its  courts,  its  many  chambers,  its  ample 
porches  with  room  for  thronging  worshippers,  repre- 
sented in  some  poor  way  the  wide  sweep  and  space  of 
that  higher  house;  and  the  sense  of  Sonship,  which 
drew  the  Boy  to  His  Father's  house  in  the  earliest  hours 
of  conscious  childhood,  speaks  here. 

Think  for  a  moment  of  how  sweet  and  familiar  the 
conception  of  heaven  as  the  Father's  house  makes  it  to 
us.  There  is  something  awful,  even  to  the  best  and 
holiest  souls,  in  the  thought  of  even  the  glories  beyond. 
The  circumstances  of  death,  which  is  its  portal,  our 
utter  unacquaintance  with  all  that  lies  behind  the  veil, 
the  terrible  silence  and  distance  which  falls  upon  our 
dearest  ones  as  they  are  sucked  into  the  cloud,  all  tend 
to  make  us  feel  that  there  is  much  that  is  solemn  and 
awful  even  in  the  thought  of  eternal  future  blessedness. 
But  how  it  is  all  softened  when  we  say,  *  My  Father's 
house.'  Most  of  us  have  long  since  left  behind  us  the 
sweet  security,  the  sense  of  the  absence  of  all  responsi- 
bility, the  assurance  of  defence  and  provision,  which 
used  to  be  ours  when  we  lived  as  children  in  a  father's 
house  here.  But  we  may  all  look  forward  to  the 
renewal,  in  far  nobler  form,  of  these  early  days,  when 
the  father's  house  meant  the  inexpugnable  fortress 
where  no  evil  could  befall  us,  the  abundant  home  where 
all  wants  were  supplied,  and  where  the  shyest  and 


V.  2]  *  MANY  MANSIONS '  265 

timid  est  child  could  feel  at  ease  and  secure.  It  is  all 
coming  again,  brother,  and  amidst  the  august  and 
unimaginable  glories  of  that  future  the  old  feeling  of 
being  little  children,  nestling  safe  in  the  Father's  house, 
will  fill  our  quiet  hearts  once  more. 

And  then  consider  how  the  conception  of  that  Future 
as  the  Father's  house  suggests  answers  to  so  many  of 
our  questions  about  the  relationship  of  the  inmates  to 
one  another.  Are  they  to  dwell  isolated  in  their  several 
miansions  ?  Is  that  the  way  in  which  children  in  a 
home  dwell  with  each  other?  Surely  if  He  be  the 
Father,  and  heaven  be  His  house,  the  relation  of  the 
redeemed  to  one  another  must  have  in  it  more  than  all 
the  sweet  familiarity  and  unrestrained  frankness  which 
subsists  in  the  families  of  earth.  A  solitary  heaven 
would  be  but  half  a  heaven,  and  would  ill  correspond 
with  the  hopes  that  inevitably  spring  from  the  repre- 
sentation of  it  as  *  my  Father's  house.' 

But  consider  further  that  this  great  and  tender  name 
for  heaven  has  its  deepest  meaning  in  the  conception 
of  it  as  a  spiritual  state  of  which  the  essential  elements 
are  the  loving  manifestation  and  presence  of  God  as 
Father,  the  perfect  consciousness  of  sonship,  the  happy 
union  of  all  the  children  in  one  great  family,  and  the 
derivation  of  all  their  blessedness  from  their  Elder 
Brother. 

The  earthly  Temple,  to  which  there  is  some  allusion 
in  this  great  metaphor,  was  the  place  in  which  the 
divine  glory  was  manifested  to  seeking  souls,  though 
in  symbol,  yet  also  in  reality,  and  the  representation  of 
our  text  blends  the  two  ideas  of  the  free,  frank  inter- 
course of  the  home  and  of  the  magnificent  revelations 
of  the  Holy  of  holies.  Under  either  aspect  of  the  phrase, 
whether  we  think  of  '  my  Father's  house '  as  temple  or 


266  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

as  home,  it  sets  before  us,  as  the  main  blessedness  and 
glory  of  heaven,  the  vision  of  the  Father,  the  conscious- 
ness of  sonship,  and  the  complete  union  w^ith  Him. 
There  are  many  subsidiary  and  more  outvrard  blessed- 
nesses and  glories  which  shine  dimly  through  the  haze 
of  metaphors  and  negations,  by  which  alone  a  state  of 
which  we  have  no  experience  can  be  revealed  to  us; 
but  these  are  secondary.  The  heaven  of  heaven  is  the 
possession  of  God  the  Father  through  the  Son  in  the 
expanding  spirits  of  His  sons.  The  sovereign  and  filial 
position  which  Jesus  Christ  in  His  manhood  occupies 
in  that  higher  house,  and  which  He  shares  with  all 
those  who  by  Him  have  received  the  adoption  of 
sons,  is  the  very  heart  and  nerve  of  this  great 
metaphor. 

But  I  think  we  must  go  a  step  further  than  that,  and 
recognise  that  in  the  image  there  is  inherent  the  teach- 
ing that  that  glorious  future  is  not  merely  a  state,  but 
also  a  place.  Local  associations  are  not  to  be  divorced 
from  the  words;  and  although  we  can  say  but  little 
about  such  a  matter,  yet  everything  in  the  teaching  of 
Scripture  points  to  the  thought  that  howsoever  true  it 
may  be  that  the  essence  of  heaven  is  condition,  yet  that 
also  heaven  has  a  local  habitation,  and  is  a  place  in  the 
great  universe  of  God.  Jesus  Christ  has  at  this  moment 
a  human  body,  glorified.  That  body,  as  Scripture 
teaches  us,  is  somewhere,  and  where  He  is  there  shall 
also  His  servant  be.  In  the  context  He  goes  on  to  tell 
us  that '  He  goes  to  prepare  a  place  for  us,'  and  though 
I  would  not  insist  upon  the  literal  interpretation  of 
such  words,  yet  distinctly  the  drift  of  the  representa- 
tion is  in  the  direction  of  localising,  though  not  of 
materialising,  the  abode  of  the  blessed.  So  I  think  we 
can  say,  not  merely  that  what  He  is  that  shall  also  His 


V.2]  *MANY  MANSIONS'  267 

servants  be,  but  that  where  He  is  there  shall  also  His 
servants  be.  And  from  the  representation  of  my  text, 
though  we  cannot  fathom  all  its  depths,  we  can  at 
least  grasp  this,  which  gives  solidity  and  reality  to  our 
contemplations  of  the  future,  that  heaven  is  a  place, 
full  of  all  sweet  security  and  homelike  repose,  where 
God  is  made  known  in  every  heart  and  to  every  con- 
sciousness as  a  loving  Father,  and  of  which  all  the 
inhabitants  are  knit  together  in  the  frankest  fraternal 
intercourse,  conscious  of  the  Father's  love,  and  rejoicing 
in  the  abundant  provisions  of  His  royal  House. 

And  then  there  is  a  second  thought  to  be  suggested 
from  these  words,  and  that  is  of  the  ample  room  in 
this  great  house.  The  original  purpose  of  the  words  of 
my  text,  as  I  have  already  reminded  you,  was  simplj'- 
to  soothe  the  fears  of  a  handful  of  disciples. 

There  was  room  where  Christ  went  for  eleven  poor 
men.  Yes,  room  enough  for  them !  but  Christ's  pre- 
scient eye  looked  down  the  ages,  and  saw  all  the 
unborn  millions  that  would  yet  be  drawn  to  Him  up- 
lifted on  the  Cross,  and  some  glow  of  satisfaction  flitted 
across  His  sorrow,  as  He  saw  from  afar  the  result  of 
the  impending  travail  of  His  soul  in  the  multitudes 
by  whom  God's  heavenly  house  should  yet  be  filled. 
*  Many  mansions ! '  the  thought  widens  out  far  beyond 
our  grasp.  Perhaps  that  upper  room,  like  most  of  the 
roof-chambers  in  Je^vish  houses,  was  open  to  the  skies, 
and  whilst  He  spoke,  the  innumerable  lights  that  blaze 
in  that  clear  heaven  shone  down  upon  them,  and  He 
may  have  pointed  to  these.  The  better  Abraham  per- 
haps looked  forth,  like  His  prototype,  on  the  starry 
heavens,  and  saw  in  the  vision  of  the  future  those  who 
through  Him  should  receive  the  '  adoption  of  sons '  and 
dwell  for  ever  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  *so  many  as 


268  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

the  stars  of  the  sky  in  multitude,  and  as  the  sand 
which  is  by  the  seashore  innumerable.' 

Ah!  brethren,  if  we  could  only  widen  our  measure- 
ment of  the  walls  of  the  New  Jerusalem  to  the  measure- 
ment of  that  'golden  rod  which  the  man,  that  is  the 
angel,'  as  John  says,  applied  to  it,  we  should  under- 
stand how  much  bigger  it  is  than  any  of  these  poor 
sects  and  communities  of  ours  here  on  earth.  If  we 
would  lay  to  heart,  as  we  ought  to  do,  the  deep  mean- 
ing of  that  indefinite  'many'  in  my  text,  it  would 
rebuke  our  narrowness.  There  will  be  a  great  many 
occupants  of  the  mansions  in  heaven  that  Christian 
men  here  on  earth — the  most  Catholic  of  them — will 
be  very  much  surprised  to  see  there,  and  thousands  will 
find  their  entrance  there  that  never  found  their  entrance 
into  any  communities  of  so-called  Christians  here  on 
earth. 

That  one  word  '  many '  should  deepen  our  confidence 
in  the  triumphs  of  Christ's  Cross,  and  it  may  be  used  to 
heighten  our  own  confidence  as  to  our  own  poor  selves. 
A  chamber  in  the  great  Temple  waits  for  each  of  us, 
and  the  question  is.  Shall  we  occupy  it,  or  shall  we 
not?  The  old  Rabbis  had  a  tradition  which,  like  a 
great  many  of  their  apparently  foolish  sayings,  covers 
in  picturesque  guise  a  very  deep  truth.  They  said 
that,  however  many  the  throngs  of  worshippers  who 
came  u]3  to  Jerusalem  at  the  passover,  the  streets  of 
the  city  and  the  courts  of  the  sanctuary  were  never 
crowded.  And  so  it  is  with  that  great  city.  There  is 
room  for  all.  There  are  throngs,  but  no  crowds.  Each 
finds  a  place  in  the  ample  sweep  of  the  Father's  house, 
like  some  of  the  great  palaces  that  barbaric  Eastern 
kings  used  to  build,  in  whose  courts  armies  might 
encamp,  and  the  chambers  of  which  were  counted  by 


V.  2]  *  MANY  MANSIONS '  269 

the  thousand.  And  surely  in  all  that  ample  accom- 
modation, you  and  I  may  find  some  corner  where  we, 
if  we  will,  may  lodge  for  evermore. 

I  do  not  dwell  upon  subsidiary  ideas  that  may  be 
drawn  from  the  expressions.  '  Mansions '  means  places 
of  permanent  abode,  and  suggests  the  two  thoughts,  so 
sweet  to  travellers  and  toilers  in  this  fleeting,  labouring 
life,  of  unchangeableness  and  of  repose.  Some  have 
supposed  that  the  variety  in  the  attainments  of  the 
redeemed,  which  is  reasonable  and  scriptural,  might  be 
deduced  from  our  text,  but  that  does  not  seem  to  be 
relevant  to  our  Lord's  purpose. 

One  other  suggestion  may  be  made  without  enlarging 
upon  it.  There  is  only  one  other  occasion  in  this  Gospel 
in  which  the  word  here  translated  'mansions'  is 
employed,  and  it  is  this :  '  We  will  come  and  make 
our  abode  with  him.'  Our  mansion  is  in  God ;  God's 
dwelling-place  is  in  us.  So  ask  yourselves,  Have  you  a 
place  in  that  heavenly  home  ?  When  prodigal  children 
go  away  from  the  father's  house,  sometimes  a  broken- 
hearted parent  will  keep  the  boy's  room  just  as  it  used 
to  be  when  he  was  young  and  pure,  and  will  hope  and 
weary  through  long  days  for  him  to  come  back  and 
occupy  it  again.  God  is  keeping  a  room  for  you  in  His 
house  ;  do  you  see  that  you  fill  it. 

II.  In  the  next  place,  note  here  the  sufficiency  of 
Christ's  revelation  for  our  needs. 

. '  If  it  were  not  so  I  would  have  told  you.'  He  sets 
Himself  forward  in  very  august  fashion  as  being  the 
Revealer  and  Opener  of  that  house  for  us.  There  is  a 
singular  tone  about  all  our  Lord's  few  references  to 
the  future — a  tone  of  decisiveness ;  not  as  if  He  were 
speaking,  as  a  man  might  do,  that  which  he  had 
thought  out,  or  which  had  come  to  him,  but  as  if  He 


270  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

was  speaking  of  what  he  had  Himself  beheld.  *We 
speak  that  we  do  know,  and  testify  that  we  have  seen.' 
He  stands  like  one  on  a  mountain  top,  looking  down 
into  the  valleys  beyond,  and  telling  His  comrades  in 
the  plain  behind  Him  what  He  sees.  He  speaks  of 
that  unseen  world  always  as  One  who  had  been  in  it, 
and  who  was  reporting  experiences,  and  not  giving 
forth  opinions.  His  knowledge  was  the  knowledge  of 
One  who  dwelt  with  the  Father,  and  left  the  house  in 
order  to  find  and  bring  back  His  wandering  brethren. 
It  was  '  His  ow^n  calm  home.  His  habitation  from 
eternity,'  and  therefore  He  could  tell  us  with  decisive- 
ness, with  simplicity,  with  assurance,  all  which  we 
need  to  know  about  the  geography  of  that  unknown 
land — the  plan  of  that,  by  us  unvisited,  house.  Very 
remarkable,  therefore,  is  it,  that  with  this  tone  there 
should  be  such  reticence  in  Christ's  references  to  the 
future.  The  text  implies  the  rationale  of  such  re- 
ticence. '  If  it  were  not  so  I  would  have  told  you.'  I 
tell  you  all  that  you  need,  though  I  tell  you  a  great 
deal  less  than  you  sometimes  wish. 

The  gaps  in  our  knowledge  of  the  future,  seeing  that 
we  have  such  a  Revealer  as  we  have  in  Christ,  are  re- 
markable. But  my  text  suggests  this  to  us — we  have 
as  much  as  we  need.  /  know,  and  many  of  you  know, 
by  bitter  experience,  how  many  questions,  the  answers 
to  which  would  seem  to  us  to  be  such  a  lightening  of 
our  burdens,  our  desolated  and  troubled  hearts  suggest 
about  that  future,  and  how  vainly  we  ply  heaven  with 
questions  and  interrogate  the  unreplying  Oracle.  But 
we  know  as  much  as  we  need.  We  know  that  God  is 
there.  We  know  that  it  is  the  Father's  house.  We 
know  that  Christ  is  in  it.  We  know  that  the  dwellers 
there  are  a  family.    We  know  that  sweet  security  and 


V.2]  *  MANY  MANSIONS'  271 

ample  provision  are  there;  and,  for  the  rest,  if  we 
needed  to  have  heard  more,  He  would  have  told  us. 

'  My  knowledge  of  that  life  is  small, 
The  eye  of  faith  is  dim  ; 
But  'tis  enough  that  Christ  knows  all ; 
And  I  shall  be  with  Him.' 

Let  the  gaps  remain.  The  gaps  are  part  of  the  revela- 
tion, and  we  know  enough  for  faith  and  hope. 

May  we  not  widen  the  application  of  that  thought 
to  other  matters  than  to  our  bounded  and  fragmentary 
conceptions  of  a  future  life  ?  In  times  like  the  present, 
of  doubt  and  unrest,  it  is  a  great  piece  of  Christian 
wisdom  to  recognise  the  limitations  of  our  knowledge 
and  the  sufficiency  of  the  fragments  that  we  have. 
What  do  we  get  a  revelation  for  ?  To  solve  theological 
puzzles  and  dogmatic  difficulties?  to  inflate  us  with 
the  pride  of  quasi-omniscience  ?  or  to  present  to  us  God 
in  Christ  for  faith,  for  love,  for  obedience,  for  imita- 
tion? Surely  the  latter,  and  for  such  purposes  we 
have  enough. 

So  let  us  recognise  that  our  knowledge  is  very 
partial.  A  great  stretch  of  wall  is  blank,  and  there  is 
not  a  window  in  it.  If  there  had  been  need  for  one,  it 
would  have  been  struck  out.  He  has  been  pleased  to 
leave  many  things  obscure,  not  arbitrarily,  so  as  to  try 
our  faith — for  the  implication  of  the  words  before  us  is 
that  the  relation  between  Him  and  us  binds  Him  to 
the  utmost  possible  frankness,  and  that  all  which  we 
need  and  He  can  tell  us  He  does  tell — but  for  high 
reasons,  and  because  of  the  very  conditions  of  our 
present  environment,  which  forbid  the  more  complete 
and  all-round  knowledge. 

So  let  us  recognise  our  limitations.    We  know  in 


272  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

part,  and  we  are  wise  if  we  affirm  in  part.  Hold  by 
the  Central  Light,  which  is  Jesus  Christ.  'Many 
things  did  Jesus  which  are  not  written  in  this  book,' 
and  many  gaps  and  deficiencies  from  a  human  point 
of  view  exist  in  the  contexture  of  revelation.  'But 
these  are  written  that  ye  may  believe  that  Jesus  is  the 
Christ,'  for  which  enough  has  been  told  us,  '  and  that, 
believing,  ye  may  have  life  in  His  name.'  If  that  pur- 
pose be  cxcomplished  in  us,  God  will  not  have  spoken, 
nor  we  have  heard,  in  vain.  Let  us  hold  by  the 
Central  Light,  and  then  the  circumference  of  darkness 
will  gradually  retreat,  and  a  wider  sphere  of  illumina- 
tion be  ours,  until  the  day  when  we  enter  our  mansion 
in  the  Father's  house,  and  then  '  in  Thy  Light  shall  we 
see  light ';  and  we  shall '  know  even  as  we  are  known.' 

Let  your  Elder  Brother  lead  you  back,  dear  friend,  to 
the  Father's  bosom,  and  be  sure  that  if  you  trust  Him 
and  listen  to  Him,  you  will  know  enough  on  earth  to 
turn  earth  into  a  foretaste  of  Heaven,  and  will  find 
at  last  your  place  in  the  Father's  house  beside  the 
Brother  who  has  prepared  it  for  you. 


THE  FORERUNNER 

' ...  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you.  And  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  you, 
I  will  come  again,  and  receive  you  unto  Myself ;  that  where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be 
also.'— John  xiv.  2, 3. 

What  divine  simplicity  and  depth  are  in  these  words ! 
They  carry  us  up  into  the  unseen  world,  and  beyond 
time ;  and  yet  a  little  child  can  lay  hold  on  them,  and 
mourning  hearts  and  dying  men  find  peace  and  sweet- 
ness in  them.  A  very  familiar  image  underlies  them. 
It  was  customary  for  travellers  in  those  old  days  to 
send  some  of  their  party  on  in  advance,  to  find  lodging 


78.2,3]  THE  FORERUNNER  273 

and  make  arrangements  for  them  in  some  great  city. 
Many  a  time  one  or  other  of  the  disciples  had  been 
'  sent  before  His  face  into  every  place  where  He  Him- 
self should  come.'  On  that  very  morning  two  of  them 
had  gone  in,  at  His  bidding,  from  Bethany  to  make 
ready  the  table  at  which  they  were  sitting.  Christ 
here  takes  that  office  upon  Himself.  The  emblem  is 
homely,  the  thing  meant  is  transcendent. 

Not  less  wonderful  is  the  blending  of  majesty  and 
lowliness.  The  office  which  He  takes  upon  Himself  is 
that  of  an  inferior  and  a  servant.  And  yet  the  dis- 
charge of  it,  in  the  present  case,  implies  His  authority 
over  every  corner  of  the  universe,  His  immortal  life, 
and  the  sufficiency  of  His  presence  to  make  a  heaven. 
Nor  can  we  fail  to  notice  the  blending  of  another  pair 
of  opposites :  His  certainty  of  His  impending  death,  and 
His  certainty,  notwithstanding  and  thereby,  of  His  con- 
tinual work  and  His  final  return,  are  inseparably  inter- 
laced here.  How  comes  it  that,  in  all  His  premonitions 
of  His  death,  Jesus  Christ  never  spoke  about  it  as  failure 
or  as  the  interruption  or  end  of  His  activity,  but  always 
as  the  transition  to,  and  the  condition  of.  His  wider 
work?  'I  go,  and  if  I  go  I  return,  and  take  you  to 
Myself.' 

So,  then,  there  are  three  things  here,  the  departure 
with  its  purpose,  the  return,  and  the  perfected  union. 

I.  The  Departure. 

Our  Lord's  going  away  from  that  little  group  was  a 
journey  in  two  stages.  Calvary  was  the  first ;  Olivet 
was  the  second.  He  means  by  the  phrase  the  whole 
continuous  process  which  begins  with  His  death  and 
ends  in  His  ascension.  Both  are  embraced  in  His 
words,  and  each  co-operates  to  the  attainment  of  the 
great  purpose. 

VOL.  II.  s 


274  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

He  prepares  a  place  for  us  by  His  death.  The  High 
Priest,  in  the  ancient  ritual,  once  a  year  was  privileged 
to  lift  the  heavy  veil  and  pass  into  the  darkened 
chamber,  where  only  the  light  between  the  cherubim 
was  visible,  because  he  bore  in  his  hand  the  blood  of 
the  sacrifice.  But  in  our  New  Testament  system  the 
path  into  *  the  holiest  of  all,'  the  realisation  of  the  most 
intimate  fellowship  with  heavenly  things  and  com- 
munion with  God  Himself,  are  made  possible,  and  the 
way  patent  for  every  foot,  because  Jesus  has  died. 
And  as  the  communion  upon  earth,  so  the  perfecting 
of  the  communion  in  the  heavens.  Who  of  us  could 
step  within  those  awful  sanctities,  or  stand  serene 
amidst  the  region  of  eternal  light  and  stainless  purity, 
unless,  in  His  death,  He  had  borne  the  sins  of  the 
world,  and,  having  '  overcome '  its  '  sharpness '  by  endur- 
ing its  blow,  had  '  opened  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  to 
all  believers '  ? 

Old  legends  tell  us  of  magic  gates  that  resisted  all 
attempts  to  force  them,  but  upon  which,  if  one  drop 
of  a  certain  blood  fell,  they  flew  open.  And  so,  by 
His  death,  Christ  has  opened  the  gates  and  made 
the  heaven  of  perfect  purity  a  dwelling-place  for 
sinful  men. 

But  the  second  stage  of  His  departure  is  that  which 
more  eminently  is  in  Christ's  mind  here.  He  prepares 
a  place  for  us  by  His  entrance  into  and  His  dwelling 
in  the  heavenly  places.  The  words  are  obscure  be- 
cause we  have  but  few  others  with  which  to  compare 
them,  and  no  experience  by  which  to  interpret  them. 
We  know  so  little  about  the  matter  that  it  is  not  w^ise 
to  say  much  ;  but  though  there  be  vast  tracts  of  dark- 
ness round  the  little  spot  of  light,  this  should  only  make 
the  spot  of  light  more  vivid  and  more  precious.     We 


vs.  2, 3]  THE  FORERUNNER  275 

know  little,  but  we  know  enough  for  mind  and  heart 
to  rest  upon.  Our  ignorance  of  the  ways  in  which 
Christ  by  His  ascension  prepares  a  heaven  for  His 
followers  should  neither  breed  doubt  nor  disregard  of 
His  assurance  that  He  does. 

If  Christ  had  not  ascended,  would  there  have  been 
*a  place'  at  all?  He  has  gone  with  a  human  body, 
which,  glorified  as  it  is,  still  has  relations  to  space, 
and  must  be  somewhere.  And  we  may  even  say  that 
His  ascending  up  on  high  has  made  a  place  where  His 
servants  are.  But  apart  from  that  suggestion,  which, 
perhaps,  is  going  beyond  our  limits,  we  may  see  that 
Christ's  presence  in  heaven  is  needful  to  make  it  a 
heaven  for  poor  human  souls.  There,  as  here  (Scrip- 
ture assures  us),  and  throughout  eternity  as  to-day, 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  Mediator  of  all  human  knowledge 
and  possession  of  God.  It  is  from  Him  and  through 
Him  that  there  come  to  men,  whether  they  be  men 
on  earth  or  men  in  the  heavens,  all  that  they  know, 
all  that  they  hope,  all  that  they  enjoy,  of  the  wisdom, 
love,  beauty,  peace,  power,  which  flow  from  God. 
Take  away  from  the  heaven  of  the  Christian  expecta- 
tion that  which  comes  to  the  spirit  through  Jesus 
Christ,  and  you  have  nothing  left.  He  and  His  media- 
tion and  ministration  alone  make  the  brightness 
and  the  blessedness  of  that  high  state.  The  very 
glories  of  all  that  lies  beyond  the  veil  would  have  an 
aspect  appalling  and  bewildering  to  us,  unless  our 
Brother  were  there.  Like  some  poor  savages  brought 
into  a  great  city,  or  rustics  into  the  presence  of  a 
king  and  his  court,  we  should  be  ill  at  ease  amidst  the 
glories  and  solemnities  of  that  future  life  unless  we 
saw  standing  there  our  Kinsman,  to  whom  we  can 
turn,  and  who  makes  it  possible  for  us  to  feel  that  it 


276  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xiv. 

is  home.  Christ's  presence  makes  heaven  the  home  of 
our  hearts. 

Not  only  did  He  go  to  prepare  a  place,  but  He  is 
continuously  preparing  it  for  us  all  through  the  ages. 
We  have  to  think  of  a  double  form  of  the  work  of 
Christ,  His  past  work  in  His  earthly  life,  and  His 
present  in  His  exaltation.  We  have  to  think  of  a 
double  form  of  His  present  activity — His  work  with 
and  in  us  here  on  earth,  and  His  work  for  us  there  in 
the  heavens.  We  have  to  think  of  a  double  form  of 
His  work  in  the  heavens — that  which  the  Scripture 
represents  in  a  metaphor,  the  full  comprehension  of 
which  surpasses  our  present  powers  and  experiences, 
as  being  His  priestly  intercession ;  and  that  which  my 
text  represents  in  a  metaphor,  perhaps  a  little  more 
level  to  our  apprehension,  as  being  His  preparing  a 
place  for  us.  Behind  the  veil  there  is  a  working 
Christ,  who,  in  the  heavens,  is  preparing  a  place  for 
all  that  love  Him. 

II.  In  the  next  place,  note  the  Return. 

The  purpose  of  our  Lord's  departure,  as  set  forth  by 
Himself  here,  guarantees  for  us  His  coming  back  again. 
That  is  the  force  of  the  simple  argumentation  of  my 
text,  and  of  the  pathetic  and  soothing  repetition  of  the 
sweet  words,  *  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you ;  and  if 
I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you,  I  will  come  again  and 
receive  you  unto  Myself.'  Because  the  departure  had 
for  its  purpose  the  preparing  of  the  place,  therefore 
it  is  necessarily  followed  by  a  return.  He  who  went 
away  as  the  Forerunner  has  not  done  His  work  until 
He  comes  back,  and,  as  Guide,  leads  those  for  whom 
He  had  prepared  the  place  to  the  place  which  He  had 
prepared  for  them. 

Now  that  return  of  our  Lord,  like  His  departure,  may 


vs.  2, 3]  THE  FORERUNNER  277 

be  considered  as  having  two  stages.  Unquestionably 
the  main  meaning  and  application  of  the  words  is  to 
that  final  and  personal  coming  which  stands  at  the 
end  of  history,  and  to  which  the  hopes  of  every  Chris- 
tian soul  ought  to  be  steadfastly  directed.  He  will  *  so 
come  in  like  manner  as '  He  has  gone.  We  are  not  to 
water  down  such  words  as  these  into  anything  short 
of  a  return  precisely  corresponding  in  its  method  to  the 
departure ;  and  as  the  departure  was  visible,  corporeal, 
literal,  personal,  and  local,  so  the  return  is  to  be 
visible,  corporeal,  literal,  personal,  local  too.  He  is  to 
come  as  He  went,  a  visible  Manhood,  only  throned 
amongst  the  clouds  of  heaven  with  power  and  great 
glory.  This  is  the  aim  that  He  sets  before  Him  in  His 
departure.  He  leaves  in  order  that  He  may  come  back 
again. 

And,  oh,  dear  friends !  remember — and  let  us  live  in 
the  strength  of  the  remembrance — that  this  return 
ought  to  be  the  prominent  subject  of  Christian  aspira- 
tion and  desire.  There  is  much  about  the  conception 
of  that  solemn  return,  with  all  the  convulsions  that 
attend  it,  and  the  judgment  of  which  it  is  preliminary, 
that  may  well  make  men's  hearts  chill  within  them. 
But  for  you  and  me,  if  we  have  any  love  in  our  hearts 
and  loyalty  in  our  spirits  to  that  King,  '  His  coming ' 
should  be  'prepared  as  the  morning,'  and  we  should 
join  in  the  great  burst  of  rapture  of  many  a  psalm, 
which  calls  upon  rocks  and  hills  to  break  forth  into 
singing,  and  trees  of  the  field  to  clap  their  hands, 
because  He  cometh  as  the  King  to  judge  the  earth. 
His  own  parable  tells  us  how  we  ought  to  regard  His 
coming.  When  the  fig-tree's  branch  begins  to  supple, 
and  the  little  leaves  to  push  their  way  through  the 
polished  stem,  then  we  know  that  summer  is  at  hand. 


278  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xiv. 

His  coining  should  be  as  the  approach  of  that  glori- 
ous, fervid  time,  in  which  the  sunshine  has  tenfold 
brilliancy  and  power,  the  time  of  ripened  harvests  and 
matured  fruits,  the  time  of  joy  for  all  creatures  that 
love  the  sun.  It  should  be  the  glad  hope  of  all  His 
servants. 

We  have  a  double  witness  to  bear  in  the  midst  of 
this  as  of  every  generation.  One  half  of  the  witness 
stretches  backwards  to  the  Cross,  and  proclaims  '  Christ 
has  come ' ;  the  other  reaches  onwards  to  the  Throne, 
and  proclaims  '  Christ  will  come.'  Between  these  two 
high  uplifted  piers  swings  the  chain  of  the  world's 
history,  which  closes  with  the  return,  to  judge  and  to 
save,  of  the  Lord  who  came  to  die  and  has  gone  to 
prepare  a  place  for  us. 

But  do  not  let  us  forget  that  we  may  well  take 
another  point  of  view  than  this.  Scripture  knows  of 
many  comings  of  the  Lord  preliminary  to,  and  in  prin- 
ciple one  with.  His  last  coming.  For  nations  all  great 
crises  of  their  history  are  '  comings  of  the  Lord,'  the 
Judge,  and  we  are  strictly  in  the  line  of  Scripture 
analogy  when,  in  reference  to  individuals,  we  see  in 
each  single  death  a  true  coming  of  the  Lord. 

That  is  the  point  of  view  in  which  we  ought  to  look 
upon  a  Christian's  death-bed.  'The  Master  is  come, 
and  calleth  for  thee.'  Beyond  all  secondary  causes, 
deeper  than  disease  or  accident,  lies  the  loving  will  of 
Him  w^ho  is  the  Lord  of  life  and  of  death.  Death  is 
Christ's  minister,  'mighty  and  beauteous,  though  his 
face  be  dark,'  and  he,  too,  stands  amidst  the  ranks  of 
the  'ministering  spirits  sent  forth  to  minister  to  them 
that  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation.'  It  is  Christ  that  says 
of  one,  'I  will  that  this  man  tarry,'  and  to  another, 
'  Go ! '  and  he  goeth.     But  whensoever  a  Christian  man 


vs.  2. 3]  THE  FORERUNNER  279 

lies  down  to  die,  Christ  says,  '  Come !  *  and  he  conies. 
How  that  thought  should  hallow  the  death-chamber  as 
with  the  print  of  the  Master's  feet!  How  it  should 
quiet  our  hearts  and  dry  our  tears!  How  it  should 
change  the  whole  aspect  of  that  'shadow  feared  of 
man  ' !  With  Him  for  our  companion,  the  lonely  road 
will  not  be  dreary ;  and  though  in  its  anticipation,  our 
timid  hearts  may  often  be  ready  to  say,  'Surely  the 
darkness  shall  cover  me,'  if  we  have  Him  by  our  sides, 
'even  the  night  shall  be  light  about  us.'  The  dying 
martyr  beneath  the  city  wall  lifted  up  his  face  to  the 
heavens,  and  said,  '  Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit ! '  It 
was  the  echo  of  the  Master's  promise,  '  I  will  come 
again,  and  receive  you  to  Myself.' 

III.  Lastly,  notice  the  Perfected  Union. 

The  departure  for  such  a  purpose  necessarily  in- 
volved the  return  again.  .  Both  are  stages  in  the 
process,  which  is  perfected  by  complete  union — 
'That  where  I  am  there  ye  may  be  also.' 

Christ,  as  I  have  been  saying,  is  Heaven.  His  presence 
is  all  that  we  need  for  peace,  for  joy,  for  purity,  for 
rest,  for  love,  for  growth.  To  be  '  with  Him,'  as  He  tells 
us  in  another  part  of  these  wonderful  last  words  in  the 
upper  chamber,  is  to  '  behold  His  glory.'  And  to  behold 
His  glory,  as  John  tells  us  in  his  Epistle,  is  to  be  like 
Him.  So  Christ's  presence  means  the  communication 
to  us  of  all  the  lustre  of  His  radiance,  of  all  the  white- 
ness of  His  purity,  of  all  the  depth  of  His  blessedness, 
and  of  a  share  in  His  wondrous  dominion.  His  glori- 
fied manhood  will  pass  into  ours,  and  they  that  are 
with  Him  where  He  is  will  rest  as  in  the  centre  and 
home  of  their  spirits,  and  find  Him  all-sufficient.  His 
presence  is  my  Heaven. 

That  is  almost  all  we  know.    Oh !  it  is  more  than  all 


280  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

we  need  to  know.  The  curtain  is  the  picture.  It  is 
because  what  is  there  transcends  in  glory  all  our 
present  experience  that  Scripture  can  only  hint  at  it 
and  describe  it  by  negations — such  as  'no  night,'  'no 
sorrow,'  '  no  tears,'  '  former  things  passed  away ' ;  and 
by  symbols  of  glory  and  lustre  gathered  from  all  that 
is  loftiest  and  noblest  in  human  buildings  and  society. 
But  all  these  are  but  secondary  and  poor.  The  living 
heart  of  the  hope,  and  the  lambent  centre  of  the 
brightness,  is,  '  So  shall  we  ever  be  with  the  Lord.' 

And  it  is  enough.  It  is  enough  to  make  the  bond  of 
union  between  us  in  the  outer  court  and  them  in  the 
holy  place.  Parted  friends  will  fix  to  look  at  the  same 
star  at  the  same  moment  of  the  night  and  feel  some 
union ;  and  if  we  from  amidst  the  clouds  of  earth,  and 
they  from  amidst  the  pure  radiance  of  their  heaven,  turn 
our  eyes  to  the  same  Christ,  we  are  not  far  apart.  If 
He  be  the  companion  of  each  of  us.  He  reaches  a  hand 
to  each,  and,  clasping  it,  the  parted  ones  are  united; 
and  'whether  we  wake  or  sleep  we  live  together,'  be- 
cause we  both  live  with  Him. 

Brother!  Is  Jesus  Christ  so  much  to  you  that  a 
heaven  which  consists  in  nearness  and  likeness  to  Him 
has  any  attraction  for  you  ?  Let  Him  be  your  Saviour, 
your  Sacrifice,  your  Helper,  your  Companion.  Obey 
Him  as  your  King,  love  Him  as  your  Friend,  trust  Him 
as  your  All.  And  be  sure  that  then  the  darkness  will 
be  but  the  shadow  of  His  hand,  and  instead  of  dreading 
death  as  that  which  separates  you  from  life  and  love 
and  action  and  joy,  you  will  be  able  to  meet  it  peace- 
fully, as  that  which  rends  the  thin  veil,  and  unites  you 
with  Him  who  is  the  Heaven  of  heavens. 

He  has  gone  to  prepare  a  place  for  us.  And  if  we 
will  let  Him,  He  will  prepare  us  for  the  place,  and  then 


vs.  2, 3]  THE  WAY  281 

come  and  lead  us  thither.  'Thou  wilt  show  me  the 
path  of  life'  which  leads  through  death.  'In  Thy 
presence  is  fullness  of  joy,  and  at  Thy  right  hand  there 
are  pleasures  for  evermore.' 


THE  WAY 

'And  whither  I  go  ye  know,  and  the  way  ye  know.  Thomas  saith  unto  Him, 
Lord,  we  know  not  whither  Thou  goest ;  and  how  can  we  know  the  way  ?  Jesus 
saith  unto  him,  I  am  the  Way,  the  Truth,  and  the  Life :  no  man  cometh  unto  the 
Father,  hut  by  Me.  If  ye  had  known  Me,  ye  should  have  known  My  Father 
also:  and  from  henceforth  ye  know  Him,  and  have  seen  Him.'— John  xiv.  4-7. 

Our  Lord  has  been  speaking  of  His  departure,  of  its 
purpose,  of  His  return  as  guaranteed  by  that  purpose, 
and  of  His  servants'  eternal  and  perfect  reunion  with 
Him.  But  even  these  cheering  and  calming  thoughts 
do  not  exhaust  His  consolations,  as  they  did  not  satisfy 
all  the  disciples'  needs.  They  might  still  have  said, 
•  Yes ;  we  believe  that  You  will  come  back  again,  and 
we  believe  that  we  shall  be  together ;  but  what  about 
the  parenthesis  of  absence  ? '  And  here  is  the  answer, 
or  at  least  part  of  it :  *  Whither  I  go  ye  know,  and  the 
way  ye  know';  or,  if  we  adopt  the  shortened  form 
which  the  Revised  Version  gives  us,  '  Whither  I  go  ye 
know  the  way.' 

When  you  say  to  a  man,  'You  know  the  way,'  you 
mean  *  Come.'  And  in  these  words  there  lie,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  a  veiled  invitation  to  the  disciples  to  come 
to  Him  before  He  came  back  for  them,  and  the  assur- 
ance that  they,  though  separated,  might  still  find  and 
tread  the  road  to  the  Father's  house,  and  so  be  with 
Him  still.  They  are  not  left  desolate.  The  Christ  who 
is  absent  is  present  as  the  path  to  Himself.  And  so  the 
parenthesis  is  bridged  across.    Now  in  these  verses  we 


282  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xiv. 

have  several  large  and  important  lessons  which  I  think 
may  best  be  drawn  by  simply  seeking  to  follow  their 
course. 

I.  Observe  the  disciples'  unconscious  knowledge. 

Jesus  Christ  says :  '  Ye  know  the  way  and  ye  know 
the  goal.'  One  of  them  ventures  flatly  to  contradict 
Him,  and  to  traverse  both  assertions  with  a  brusque 
and  thorough -going  negative.  *We  do  not  know 
whither  Thou  goest,'  says  Thomas  ;  '  how  can  we  know 
the  way  ? '  He  is  the  same  man  in  this  conversation 
that  we  find  him  in  the  interview  before  our  Lord's 
journey  to  raise  Lazarus,  and  in  the  interview  after 
our  Lord's  resurrection.  In  all  three  cases  he  appears 
as  mainly  under  the  dominion  of  sense,  as  slow  to 
apprehend  anything  beyond  its  limits,  as  morbidly 
melancholy  and  disposed  to  take  the  blackest  possible 
view  of  things — a  practical  pessimist — and  yet  with 
a  certain  kind  of  frank  outspokenness  which  half 
redeems  the  other  characteristics  from  blame.  He 
could  not  understand  all  the  Lord's  deep  words  just 
spoken.  His  mind  was  befogged  and  dimmed,  and  he 
blurts  out  his  ignorance,  knowing  that  the  best  place 
to  carry  it  to  is  to  the  Hluminator  who  can  make  it 
light. 

'  We  know  not  whither  Thou  goest,  and  how  can  we 
know  the  way  ? '  Was  Jesus  right  ?  was  Thomas  right  ? 
or  were  they  both  right  ?  The  fact  is  that  Thomas  and 
all  his  fellows  knew,  after  a  fashion,  but  they  did  not 
know  that  they  knew.  They  had  heard  much  in  the  past 
as  to  where  Christ  was  going.  Plainly  enough  it  had 
been  rung  in  their  ears  over  and  over  again.  It  had 
made  some  kind  of  lodgment  in  their  heads,  and,  in 
that  sense,  they  did  know.  It  is  this  unused  and  un- 
conscious knowledge  of  theirs  to  which  Christ  appeals, 


vs.  4-7]  THE  WAY  283 

and  which  He  tries  to  draw  out  into  consciousness  and 
power  when  He  says, '  You  know  whither  I  am  going, 
and  you  know  the  road.'  Is  not  that  exactly  what  a 
patient  teacher  will  do  with  some  flustered  child  when 
he  says  to  it :  '  Take  time !  You  know  it  well  enough 
if  you  will  only  think '  ?  So  the  Master  says  here :  '  Do 
not  be  agitated  and  troubled  in  heart.  Reflect,  re- 
member, overhaul  your  stores,  and  think  what  I  have 
told  you  over  and  over  again,  and  you  will  find  that 
you  do  know  whither  I  am  going,  and  that  you  do 
know  the  way.' 

The  patient  gentleness  of  the  Master  with  the  slow- 
ness of  the  scholars  is  beautifully  exemplified  here,  as 
is  also  the  method,  which  He  lovingly  and  patiently 
adopts,  of  sending  men  back  to  consult  their  own  con- 
sciousness as  illuminated  by  His  teaching,  and  to  see 
whether  there  is  not  lying  somewhere,  unrecked  of 
and  unemployed  in  some  dusty  corner  of  their  mind,  a 
truth  that  only  needs  to  be  dragged  out  and  cleaned  in 
order  to  show  itself  for  what  it  is,  the  all-sufficient 
light  and  strength  for  the  moment's  need. 

The  dialogue  is  an  instance  of  what  is  true  about  us 
all,  that  we  have  in  our  possession  truths  given  to  us 
by  Jesus  Christ,  the  whole  sweep  and  bearing  of  which, 
the  whole  majesty  and  power  and  illuminating  capa- 
city of  which,  we  do  not  dream  of  yet.  How  much  in 
our .  creeds  lies  dim  and  undeveloped !  Time  and  cir- 
cumstances and  some  sore  agony  of  spirit  are  needed 
in  order  to  make  us  realise  the  riches  that  we  possess, 
and  the  certitudes  to  which  our  troubled  spirits  may 
cling;  and  the  practice  of  far  more  patient,  honest, 
profound  meditation  and  reflection  than  finds  favour 
with  the  average  Christian  man  is  needed,  too,  in 
order  that  the  truths  possessed  may  be  possessed,  and 


284  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xxv. 

that  we  may  know  what  we  know,  and  understand  •  the 
things  that  are  given  to  us  of  God.' 

In  all  your  creeds,  there  are  large  tracts  that  you,  in 
some  kind  of  a  fashion,  do  believe ;  and  yet  they  have 
no  vitality  in  your  consciousness  nor  power  in  your 
lives.  And  the  Master  here  does  with  these  disciples 
exactly  what  He  is  trying  to  do  day  by  day  with  us, 
namely,  fling  us  back  on  ourselves,  or  rather  upon  His 
revelation  in  us,  and  get  us  to  fathom  its  depths  and 
to  walk  round  about  its  magnitudes,  and  so  to  under- 
stand the  things  that  we  say  we  believe. 

All  our  knowledge  is  ignorance.  Ignorance  that 
confesses  itself  to  Him  is  in  the  way  of  becoming 
knowledge.  His  light  will  touch  the  smoke  and 
change  it  into  red  spires  of  flame.  If  you  do  not 
know,  go  to  Him  and  say,  'Lord!  I  do  not.'  An 
accurate  understanding  of  where  the  darkness  lies  is 
the  first  step  to  the  light.  We  are  meant  to  carry 
all  our  inadequate  and  superficial  realisations  of  His 
truth  into  His  presence,  that,  from  Him,  we  may  gain 
deeper  knowledge,  a  firmer  faith,  and  a  more  joyous 
certitude  in  His  inexhaustible  lessons.  In  every 
article  and  item  of  the  Christian  faith  there  is  a 
transcendent  element  which  surpasses  our  present 
comprehension.  Let  us  be  confident  that  the  light 
will  break;  and  let  us  welcome  the  new  illumination 
when  it  comes,  sure  that  it  comes  from  God.  Be  not 
puffed  up  with  the  conceit  that  you  know  all.  Be  sure 
of  this,  that,  according  to  the  good  old  metaphor,  we 
are  but  as  children  on  the  shore  of  the  great  ocean, 
gathering  a  few  of  the  shells  that  it  has  washed  to 
our  feet,  itself  stretching  boundless,  and,  thank  God! 
sunlit,  before  us.  '  Ye  know  the  way.'  '  Master,  we 
know  not  the  way ' 


vs.  4-7]  THE  WAY  285 

II.  Observe  here,  in  the  second  place,  our  Lord's 
great  self-revelation  which  meets  this  unconscious 
knowledge. 

'Jesus  saith  unto  him:  I  am  the  Way,  the  Truth, 
and  the  Life ;  no  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by 
Me.'  Now  it  is  quite  plain,  I  think,  from  the  whole 
strain  of  the  context  and  the  purpose  of  these  words 
that  the  main  idea  in  them  is  the  first — 'I  am  the 
Way.'  And  that  is  made  more  certain  because  of  the 
last  words  of  the  verse,  which,  summing  up  the  force 
of  the  three  preceding  assertions,  dwell  only  upon  the 
metaphor  of  the  Way;  'No  man  cometh  unto  the 
Father  but  by  Me.'  So  that  of  these  three  great 
words,  the  Way,  the  Truth,  the  Life,  we  are  to  regard 
the  second  and  the  third  as  explanatory  of  the  first. 
They  are  not  co-ordinate,  but  the  first  is  the  more 
general,  and  the  other  two  show  how  the  first  comes 
to  be  true.  *  I  am  the  Way '  because  '  I  am  the  Truth 
and  the  Life.' 

There  are  no  words  of  the  Master,  perhaps,  to  which 
my  previous  remarks  are  more  necessary  to  be  applied 
than  these.  We  know ;  and  yet  oh !  what  an  overplus 
of  glory  and  of  depth  is  here  that  we  do  not  know 
and  never  can  know.  The  most  fragmentary  and  in- 
adequate grasp  of  them  with  heart  and  mind  will 
bring  light  to  the  mind  and  quietness  and  peace  to  the 
heart ;  but  the  whole  meaning  of  them  goes  beyond 
men  and  angels.  We  can  only  skim  the  surface  and 
seek  to  shift  back  the  boundaries  of  our  knowledge 
a  little  further,  and  to  embrace  within  its  limits  a 
little  more  of  the  broad  land  into  which  the  words 
bring  us.  So  just  take  a  thought  or  two  which  may 
tend  in  that  direction. 

Note,   then,    as   belonging    to    all    three    of    these 


286  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xiv. 

clauses  that  remarkable  '/  awi.'  We  show  a  way, 
Christ  is  it.  We  speak  truth,  Christ  is  it.  Parents 
impart  life,  which  they  have  received,  Christ  is  Life. 
He  separates  Himself  from  all  men  by  that  representa- 
tion that  He  is  not  merely  the  communicator  or  the 
teacher  or  the  guide,  but  that  He  Himself  is,  in  His 
own  personal  Being,  Way,  Truth,  Life.  He  said  that, 
when  Calvary  was  within  arm's-length.  What  did  He 
think  about  Himself,  and  what  should  we  think  of 
Him? 

And  then  note,  further,  that  He  sets  forth  His  unique 
relation  to  the  truth  as  being  one  ground  on  which  He 
is  the  Way  to  God.  He  is  the  Truth  in  reference  to  the 
divine  nature.  That  Truth,  then,  is  not  a  mere  matter 
of  words.  It  is  not  only  His  speech  that  teaches  us, 
but  Himself  that  shows  us  God.  His  whole  life  and 
character.  His  personality,  are  the  true  representation 
within  human  conditions  of  the  Invisible  God ;  and 
when  He  says,  *  I  am  the  Way  and  the  Truth,'  He  is 
saying  substantially  the  same  thing  as  the  great  pro- 
logue of  this  Gospel  says  when  it  calls  Him  the  Word 
and  the  Light  of  men,  and  as  Paul  says  when  he  names 
Him  '  the  Image  of  the  Invisible  God.'  There  is  all  the 
difference  between  talking  about  God  and  showing 
Him.  Men  reveal  God  by  their  words ;  Christ  reveals 
Him  by  Himself  and  the  facts  of  His  life.  The  truest 
and  highest  representation  of  the  divine  nature  that 
men  can  ever  have  is  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ. 

I  need  only  remind  you  in  a  sentence  about  other 
and  lower  applications  of  this  great  saying,  which  do 
not,  as  I  think,  enter  into  the  purpose  of  the  context- 
He  is  the  Truth,  inasmuch  as,  in  the  life  and  historical 
manifestation  of  Jesus  Christ  as  recorded  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, men   find    foundation  truths    of  a   moral  and 


vs.  4-7]  THE  WAY  287 

spiritual  sort.  'Whatsoever  things  are  true,  what- 
soever things  are  noble,  whatsoever  things  are  lovely 
and  of  good  report,'  He  is  these,  and  all  true  ethics  is 
but  the  formulating  into  principles  of  all  the  facts  of 
the  life  and  character  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Further,  my  text  says  He  is  the  Way  because  He  is 
the  Life.  On  the  one  side  God  is  brought  to  all  hearts, 
and  in  some  real  sense  to  our  comprehension,  by  the 
life  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  so  He  is  the  Way.  But  that  is 
not  enough.  There  must  be  an  action  upon  us  as  well 
as  an  action  having  reference  to  the  divine  nature. 
God  is  brought  to  men  by  the  manifestation  in  Christ ; 
and  we,  the  dead,  are  quickened  by  the  communication 
of  the  Life.  The  one  phrase  points  to  all  His  work  as 
a  Revealer,  the  other  points  to  all  His  work  upon  us  as 
life-giving  Spirit,  a  Quickener  and  an  Inspirer.  Dead 
men  cannot  walk  a  road.  It  is  of  no  use  to  make  a  path 
if  it  starts  from  a  cemetery.  Christ  taught  that  men 
apart  from  Him  are  dead,  and  that  the  only  life  that 
they  can  have  by  which  they  can  be  knit  to  God  is  the 
divine  life  which  was  in  Himself,  and  of  which  He  is 
the  source  and  the  principle  for  the  whole  world.  He 
does  not  tell  us  here  what  yet  is  true,  and  what  He 
abundantly  tells  in  other  parts  of  this  great  conver- 
sation, that  the  only  way  by  which  the  life  which  He 
brings  can  be  diffused  and  communicated  is  by  His 
death.  *  Except  a  corn  of  wheat  fall  into  the  ground 
and  die,  it  abideth  alone.'  He  is  the  Life,  and — para- 
dox of  mystery  and  yet  fact  which  is  the  very  heart 
and  centre  of  His  Gospel — His  only  way  of  giving  His 
life  to  us  is  by  giving  up  His  physical  life  for  us.  He 
must  die  that  He  may  be  the  life-spring  for  the  world. 
The  alabaster  box  must  be  broken  if  the  ointment  and 
its  fragrance  are  to  be  poured  out ;  and  '  death  is  the 


288  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

gate  of  life'  in  a  deeper  than  the  ordinary  sense  of 
the  saying,  inasmuch  as  the  death  of  the  Life  which  is 
Christ  is  the  life  of  the  death  which  we  are. 

And  so,  because,  on  the  one  hand,  He  brings  a  God 
to  our  hearts  that  we  can  love  and  trust,  and  because, 
on  the  other.  He  communicates  to  our  spirits,  dead  in 
the  only  true  death  which  is  the  separation  from  God 
by  sin,  the  life  by  which  we  are  knit  to  God,  He  is  the 
Way  to  the  Father. 

And  what  about  people  that  never  heard  of  Him,  to 
whom  that  Way  has  been  closed,  to  whom  that  Truth 
has  never  been  manifested,  to  whom  that  Life  has 
never  been  brought  ?  Ah !  Christ  has  other  ways  of 
working  than  through  His  historical  manifestation,  for 
there  is  no  truth  more  plainly  taught  in  this  great 
fourth  Gospel  than  this,  that  that  Light  'lighteth 
every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world,'  The  eternal 
Word  works  through  all  the  earth,  in  ways  beyond 
our  ken,  and  wherever  any  man  has,  however  imper- 
fectly, felt  after  and  grasped  the  thought  of  a  Father 
in  the  heavens,  there  the  Word,  which  is  the  Light  of 
men,  has  wrought. 

But  for  us  to  whom  this  Book  has  come,  for  what 
people  call  in  bitter  irony  *  Christendom,'  the  law  of 
my  text  rigidly  applies,  and  it  is  being  worked  out  all 
round  us  to-day.  'No  man  cometh  unto  the  Father 
but  by  Me.'  And  here  we  are,  in  this  England  of  ours, 
and  in  our  sister  nations  on  the  continent  of  Europe 
and  in  America,  face  to  face  as  I  believe  with  this  alter- 
native— either  Jesus  Christ  the  Revealer  of  God  and 
the  Life  of  men,  or  an  empty  Heaven.  And  for  you, 
individually,  it  is  either — take  Christ  for  the  Way,  or 
wander  in  the  wilderness  and  forget  your  Father.  It 
is  either— take  Christ  for  the  Truth,  or  be  given  over  to 


vs.  4-7]  THE  WAY  289 

the  insufficiencies  of  mere  natural,  political,  and  intel- 
lectual truths,  and  the  shows  and  illusions  of  time 
and  sense.  It  is  either — take  Christ  for  your  Life,  or 
remain  in  your  deadness,  separate  from  God. 

III.  Lastly,  we  have  here  the  disciples'  ignorance  and 
the  new  vision  which  dispels  it. 

'If  ye  had  known  Me,  ye  should  have  known  My 
Father  also,  and  from  henceforth  ye  know  Him,  and 
have  seen  Him.'  Our  Lord  accepts  for  the  moment 
Thomas's  standpoint.  He  supplements  His  former  alle- 
gation of  the  disciples'  knowledge  with  the  admission 
of  the  ignorance  which  went  with  it  as  its  shadow,  and 
was  only  too  sadly  and  plainly  shown  by  their  failure 
to  discern  in  Him  the  manifestation  of  the  Father. 
He  has  just  told  them  that  they  did  know  what  they 
thought  they  knew  not ;  He  now  tells  them  that  they 
did  not  know  what  they  thought  they  knew  so  well, 
after  so  many  years  of  companionship — even  Himself. 
The  proof  that  they  did  not  is  that  they  did  not  know 
the  Father  as  revealed  in  Him,  nor  Him  as  revealing 
the  Father.  If  they  missed  that,  they  missed  every- 
thing ;  and  for  all  they  had  known  of  His  graciousness, 
were  strangers  to  His  truest  Self.  Their  ignorance 
would  turn  out  knowledge,  if  they  would  think,  and 
their  supposed  knowledge  would  turn  out  ignorance. 

The  lesson  for  us  is  that  the  true  test  of  the  com- 
pleteness and  worth  of  our  knowledge  of  Christ  lies  in 
its  being  knowledge  of  God  the  Father,  brought  near 
to  us  by  Him.  This  saying  puts  a  finger  on  the  radical 
deficiency  of  all  merely  humanitarian  views  of  Christ's 
person,  however  clearly  they  may  see  and  admiringly 
extol  the  beauty  of  His  character  and  the  'sweet 
reasonableness'  of  His  wisdom.  They  all  break  down 
here,  and  are  arraigned  as  so  shallow  and  incomplete 
VOL.  n.  T 


290  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

that  they  do  not  deserve  to  be  called  knowledge  of  Him 
at  all.  If  you  know  anything  about  Jesus  Christ  rightly, 
this  is  what  you  know  about  Him,  that  in  Him  you  see 
God.  If  you  have  not  seen  God  in  Him,  you  have  not 
got  to  the  heart  of  the  mystery.  The  knowledge  of 
Christ  which  stops  with  the  Man  and  the  Martyr,  and 
the  Teacher  and  the  beautiful,  gentle  Brother,  is  know- 
ledge so  partial  that  even  He  cannot  venture  to  call  it 
other  than  ignorance.  Oh !  brethren,  do  our  concep- 
tions of  Him  meet  this  test  which  He  Himself  has  laid 
down,  and  can  we  say  that,  seeing  Him,  we  see  in 
Him  God? 

And  then  our  Lord  passes  on  to  another  thought, 
the  new  vision  which  at  the  moment  was  being 
granted  to  this  unconscious  ignorance  that  was  pass- 
ing into  conscious  knowledge.  'From  henceforth  ye 
know  Him  and  have  seen  Him.'  We  must  give  that 
'from  henceforth,'  as  a  note  of  time,  a  somewhat 
liberal  interpretation,  and  apply  it  to  the  whole  series 
of  utterances  and  deeds  of  which  the  words  of  our 
text  are  but  a  portion.  And,  if  so,  we  come  to  this — 
it  was  in  the  wisdom,  and  the  gentleness,  and  the  deep 
truths  of  that  upper  chamber;  it  was  in  the  agony 
and  submission  of  Gethsemane ;  it  was  in  the  meek 
patience  before  the  judges,  and  the  silent  acceptance  of 
ignominy  and  shame;  it  was  in  the  willing,  loving 
endurance  of  the  long  hours  upon  the  Cross,  that 
Christ  inaugurated  the  new  stage  in  His  revelation 
of  God  and  in  His  life-giving  to  the  world.  And  it  is 
from  thenceforth  and  thereby  that  in  the  man  Jesus, 
men  know  and  see  'the  Father'  as  they  never  did 
before.  The  Cross  and  the  Passion  of  Christ  are  the 
unveiling  to  the  world  of  the  heart  of  God;  and  by 
the  side  of  that  new  vision  the  fairest  and  the  loftiest 


vs.  4-7]  THE  VISION  OF  GOD  291 

and  the  sweetest  of  Christ's  former  manifestations  and 
utterances  sink  into  comparative  insignificance.  It  is 
the  dying  Christ  that  reveals  the  living  God. 

So,  dear  friends,  He  is  your  way  to  God.  See  that 
ye  seek  the  Father  by  Him  alone.  He  is  your  Truth ; 
grapple  Him  to  your  hearts,  and  by  patient  meditation 
and  continual  faithfulness  enrich  yourselves  with  all 
the  communicated  treasures  that  you  have  already 
received  in  Him.  He  is  your  Life ;  cleave  to  Him,  that 
the  quick  Spirit  that  was  in  Him  may  pass  into  you 
and  make  you  victors  over  all  deaths,  temporal  and 
eternal.  Know  Him  as  a  Friend,  not  as  a  mere  histori- 
cal person,  or  with  mere  head-knowledge,  for  to  know 
a  friend  is  something  far  deeper  than  to  know  a  truth. 
'  Acquaint  thyself  with  Him  and  be  at  peace.'  '  This  is 
life  eternal,  to  know,'  with  the  knowledge  which  is  life 
and  possession,  'Thee,  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus 
Christ  whom  Thou  hast  sent.' 


THE  TRUE  VISION  OF  GOD 

'Philip  saith  xinto  Jesus,  Lord,  shew  us  the  Father,  and  it  sufficeth  us.  9.  Jesus 
saith  unto  Him.  Have  I  been  so  long  time  with  you,  and  yet  hast  thou  not  known  Me, 
Philip?  He  that  hath  seen  Me  hath  seen  the  Father;  and  how  sayest  thou  then, 
Shew  us  the  E'ather  ?  Believest  thou  not  that  I  am  in  the  Father,  and  the 
Father  in  Me?  The  words  that  I  speak  unto  you  I  speak  not  of  Myself:  but  the 
Father,  that  dwelleth  in  Me,  He  doeth  the  works.  Believe  Me  that  I  am  in  the 
Father,  and  the  Father  in  Me :  or  else  believe  Me  for  the  very  works'  sake.'— 
John  xiv.  8-11. 

The  vehement  burst  with  which  Philip  interrupts  the 
calm  flow  of  our  Lord's  discourse  is  not  the  product 
of  mere  frivolity  or  curiosity.  One  hears  the  ring  of 
earnestness  in  it,  and  the  yearnings  of  many  years 
find  voice.  Philip  had  felt  out  of  his  depth,  no  doubt, 
in  the  profound  teachings  which  our  Lord  had  been 
giving,  but  His   last  words   about  seeing   God    set  a 


292  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xiv. 

familiar  chord  vibrating.  As  an  Old  Testament  believer 
he  knew  that  Moses  had  once  led  the  elders  of  Israel 
up  to  the  mount  where  'they  saw  the  God  of  Israel,' 
and  that  to  many  others  had  been  granted  sensible 
manifestations  of  the  divine  presence.  As  a  disciple 
he  longed  for  some  similar  sign  to  confirm  his  faith. 
As  a  man  he  was  conscious  of  the  deep  need  which 
all  of  us  have,  whether  we  are  conscious  of  it  or  not, 
for  something  more  real  and  tangible  than  an  un- 
seeable and  unknowable  God.  The  peculiarities  of 
Philip's  temperament  strengthened  the  desire.  The 
first  appearance  that  he  makes  in  the  Gospels  is 
characteristically  like  this  his  last.  To  all  Nathanael's 
objections  he  had  only  the  reply,  '  Come  and  see.'  And 
here  he  says :  '  Oh !  if  we  could  see  the  Father  it  would 
be  enough.'  He  was  one  of  the  men  to  whom  seeing 
is  believing,  and  so  he  speaks. 

His  petition  is  childlike  in  its  simplicity,  beautiful 
in  its  trust,  noble  and  true  in  its  estimate  of  what 
naen  need.  He  longs  to  see  God.  He  believes  that 
Christ  can  show  God ;  he  is  sure  that  the  sight  of  God 
will  satisfy  the  heart.  These  are  errors,  or  truths, 
according  to  what  is  meant  by  '  seeing.'  Philip  meant 
a  palpable  manifestation,  and  so  far  he  was  wrong. 
Give  the  word  its  highest  and  its  truest  meaning,  and 
Philip's  error  becomes  grand  truth.  Our  Lord  gently, 
lovingly,  and  with  only  a  hint  of  rebuke,  answers  the 
request,  and  seeks  to  disengage  the  error  from  the 
truth.  His  answer  lies  in  the  verses  that  we  have 
read.  Let  us  try  to  follow  them,  and,  as  we  may,  to 
skim  their  surface,  for  their  depths  are  beyond  us. 

First  of  all,  then,  we  have  the  sight  of  God  in 
Christ  as  enough  to  answer  men's  longings.  There  is 
a  world  of  sadness  and  tenderness,  of  suppressed  pain 


vs.  8-11]  THE  VISION  OF  GOD  293 

and  of  grieved  affection,  in  the  first  words  of  our 
Lord's  reply.  'Have  I  been  so  long  time  w^ith  you, 
and  yet  hast  thou  not  know^n  Me,  Philip  ? '  He  seldom 
names  His  disciples.  When  He  does,  there  is  a  deep 
cadence  of  affection  in  the  designation.  This  man  was 
one  of  the  first  disciples,  the  little  original  band  called 
by  Christ  Himself,  and  thus  had  been  with  Him  all 
the  time  of  His  ministry,  and  the  Master  wonders 
with  a  gentle  wonder  that,  before  eyes  that  loved 
Him  as  much  as  Philip's  did,  His  continual  self-revela- 
tion had  been  made  to  so  little  purpose.  In  the  answer, 
in  its  first  portion,  there  lies  the  reiteration  of  the 
thoughts  that  I  was  trying  to  dwell  upon  in  the  last 
sermon,  which,  therefore,  I  may  lightly  touch  now — 
viz.,  that  the  sight  of  Christ  is  the  sight  of  God — 'He 
that  hath  seen  Me  hath  seen  the  Father' — and  that 
not  to  know  Christ  as  thus  showing  God  is  not  to 
know  Him  at  all — 'Thou  hast  not  known  Me,  Philip.' 
Further,  there  is  the  thought  that  the  sight  of  God  in 
Christ  is  sufficient,  'How  sayest  thou.  Shew  us  the 
Father?'  From  all  this  we  may  gather  some  thoughts 
on  which  I  lightly  touch. 

I.  The  first  is,  that  we  all  do  need  to  have  God  made 
visible  to  us. 

The  history  of  heathendom  shows  us  that.  In  every 
land  men  have  said,  '  The  gods  have  come  down  to  us 
in  the  likeness  of  men.'  And  the  highest  cultivation 
of  this  highly  cultivated  and  self-conscious  twentieth 
century  has  not  removed  us  from  the  same  necessity 
that  the  rudest  savage  has,  to  have  some  kind  of 
manifestation  of  the  divine  nature  other  than  the 
dim  and  vague  ones  which  are  possible  apart  from 
the  revelation  of  God  in  Christ.  A  God  who  is  only 
the  product  of  inferences  from  creation,  or  providence, 


294  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN         [ch.xiv. 

or  the  mysteries  of  history,  or  the  wonders  of  ray  own 
inner  life,  the  creature  of  logic  or  of  reflection,  is  very 
powerless  to  sway  and  influence  men.  The  limitations 
of  our  faculties  and  the  boundlessness  of  our  hearts 
both  cry  out  for  a  God  who  is  nearer  to  us  than  that, 
and  whom  we  can  see  and  love  and  be  sure  of.  The 
whole  world  wants  the  making  visible  of  divinity  as 
its  deepest  want.  And  your  heart  and  mind  require 
it.  Nothing  else  will  ever  stay  pur  hunger,  will  ever 
answer  our  questioning  minds. 

Christ  meets  this  need.  How  can  you  make  wisdom 
visible?  How  can  a  man  see  love  or  purity?  How 
do  I  see  your  spirit?  By  the  deeds  of  your  body. 
And  the  only  way  by  which  God  can  ever  come  near 
enough  to  men  to  be  a  constant  power  and  a  constant 
motive  in  their  lives  is  by  their  seeing  Him  at  work  in 
a  Man,  who  amongst  them  is  His  image  and  revela- 
tion. Christ's  whole  life  is  the  making  visible  of  the 
invisible  God.  He  is  the  manifestation  to  the  world 
of  the  unseen  Father. 

That  vision  is  enough — enough  for  mind,  enough  for 
heart,  enough  for  will.  There  is  none  else  that  is 
sufficient,  but  this  is.  '  How  sayest  thou,  Shew  us  the 
Father?'  If  we  can  see  God  it  suffices  us.  Then  the 
mind  settles  down  upon  the  thought  of  Him  as  the 
basis  of  all  being,  and  of  all  change,  and  the  heart 
can  twine  itself  round  Him,  and  the  seeking  soul  folds 
its  wings  and  is  at  rest,  and  the  troubled  spirit  is 
quiet,  and  the  accusing  conscience  is  silent,  and  the 
rebellious  will  is  subdued,  and  the  stormy  passions  are 
quieted,  and  in  the  inner  kingdom  is  a  great  jDeace. 
The  sight  of  God  in  Christ  brings  rest  to  every  heart, 
and,  Oh !  the  absence  of  the  vision  is  the  true  secret 
of  all  disquiet.     We  are   troubled    and    careful,   and 


vs.  8-11]  THE  VISION  OF  GOD  295 

tossed  from  one  stormy  billow  to  another,  and  swept 
over  by  all  the  winds  that  blow,  because  we  see  not 
God,  our  Father,  in  the  face  of  Jesus.  'Show  us  the 
Father,  and  it  sufficeth  us,'  is  either  a  puerile  petition, 
or  the  deepest  and  noblest  prayer  of  the  human  heart. 
Blessed  are  they  who  have  learned  what  it  is  to  see, 
and  know  where  that  great  sight  is  to  be  seen  ! 

Our  present  knowledge  and  vision  are  far  higher 
than  that  mere  external  symbol  of  God  which  this 
man  wanted.  The  elders  of  Israel  saw  the  God  of 
Israel,  but  what  they  saw  was  but  some  symbolical 
manifestation  of  that  which  in  itself  is  unseen  and 
unattainable.  But  we  who  see  God  in  Christ  see  no 
symbol  but  the  Reality,  and  there  is  nothing  more 
possible  or  to  be  hoped  for  here.  Our  present  mani- 
festation and  sight  of  God  in  Christ  does  fall,  in  some 
ways  unknown  to  us,  beneath  the  bright  hopes  that 
we  are  entitled  to  cherish.  But  howsoever  imperfect 
it  may  be,  as  measured  against  the  perfection  of  the 
vision  when  we  shall  see  face  to  face,  and  knovr  even 
as  we  are  known,  it  is  enough,  and  more  than  enough, 
for  all  the  questionings  and  desires  of  our  hungering 
spirits. 

II.  Our  Lord  goes  on  to  a  further  answer,  and  points 
to  the  divine  and  mutual  indwelling  by  which  this 
sight  is  made  possible. 

'Believest  thou  not  that  I  am  in  the  Father,  and 
the  Father  in  Me  ?  The  words  that  I  speak  unto  you, 
I  speak  not  of  Myself,  but  the  Father  that  dwelleth 
in  Me,  He  doeth  the  works.'  There  are  here,  mainly, 
two  things,  Christ's  claim  to  the  oneness  of  unbroken 
communion,  and  Christ's  claim,  consequently,  to  the 
oneness  of  complete  co-operation.  '  I  am  in  the  Father ' 
indicates  the  suppression  of  all  independent  and  there- 


296  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

fore  rebellious  will,  consciousness,  thought  and  action ; 
'  And  the  Father  in  Me '  indicates  the  influx  into  that 
perfectly  filial  Manhood  of  the  whole  fullness  of  God 
in  unbroken,  continuous,  gentle,  deep  flow.  These  are 
the  two  sides  of  this  great  mystery  on  which  neither 
wisdom  nor  reverence  lead  us  to  dilate;  and  they 
combine  to  express  the  closest  and  most  uninterrupted 
blending,  interpenetration,  and  communion. 

And  then  follows  the  other  claim,  that  because  of 
this  continuous  mutual  indwelling  there  is  perfect  co- 
operation. This  is  also  stated  in  terms  corresponding 
to  the  preceding  double  representation.  'The  words 
that  I  speak  unto  you,  I  speak  not  of  Myself,'  cor- 
responds to,  *I  am  in  the  Father.'  'The  Father  that 
dwelleth  in  Me,  He  doeth  the  works,'  corresponds  to 
'The  Father  in  Me.'  The  two  put  together  teach  us 
this,  that  by  reason  of  that  mysterious  and  ineffable 
union  of  communion,  Jesus  Christ  in  all  His  words  and 
in  all  His  works  is  the  perfect  instrument  of  the  divine 
will,  so  that  His  words  are  God's  words,  and  His  works 
are  God's  works ;  so  that,  when  He  speaks,  His  gentle 
wisdom,  His  loving  sympathy.  His  melting  tenderness, 
His  authoritative  commands.  His  prophetic  threaten- 
ings,  are  the  speech  of  God,  and  that  when  He 
acts,  whether  it  be  by  miracle  or  in  the  ordinary 
deeds  of  His  life,  what  we  see  is  God  working 
before  our  eyes  as  we  never  see  Him  in  any  human 
being. 

And  from  all  this  follow  just  two  or  three  considera- 
tions which  I  name.  Note  the  absolute  absence  of  any 
consciousness  on  Christ's  part  of  the  smallest  deflection 
or  disharmony  between  Himself  and  the  Father.  Two 
triangles  laid  on  each  other  are  in  every  line,  point, 
and  angle  absolutely  coincident.     That  humanity  is 


vs.  8-11]  THE  VISION  OF  GOD  297 

capable  of  receiving  the  w^hole  inflov^?^  of  God,  and  that 
indwelling  God  is  perfectly  expressed  in  the  humanity. 
There  is  no  trace  of  a  consciousness  of  sin.  Every- 
thing that  Jesus  Christ  said  He  knew  to  be  God's 
speaking;  everything  that  He  did  He  knew  to  be 
God's  acting.  There  were  no  barriers  between  the  two. 
Jesus  Christ  was  conscious  of  no  separation — not  the 
thinnest  film  of  air  between  these  Two  who  adhered 
and  inhered  so  closely  and  so  continuously.  It  is  an 
awful  assertion. 

Now  I  pray  you  to  ask  yourselves  the  question :  If 
this  was  what  Christ  said,  what  did  He  think  of  Him- 
self? And  is  this  a  Man,  like  the  rest  of  us,  with 
blotches  and  sins,  with  failures  to  embody  His  own 
ideas,  and  still  more  to  carry  out  in  life  the  will  that 
He  knows  to  be  God's  will  ?  Is  this  a  man  like  other 
men  who  thus  speaks  to  us  ?  If  Jesus  had  this  con- 
sciousness, either  He  was  ludicrously,  tragically,  blas- 
phemously, utterly  mistaken  and  untrustworthy,  or 
He  is  what  the  Church  in  all  ages  has  confessed  Him 
to  be,  '  the  Everlasting  Son  of  the  Father.' 

III.  Lastly,  our  Lord  further  sets  before  us  the  faith 
to  which  He  invites  us  on  the  ground  of  His  union 
with,  and  revelation  of,  God. 

'  Believe  Me  that  I  am  in  the  Father,  and  the  Father 
in  Me,  or  else  believe  Me  for  the  very  works'  sake.' 
Observe  that  the  verb  at  the  beginning  of  this  last 
verse  of  our  text  passes  into  a  plural  form.  Our  Lord 
has  done  with  Philip  especially,  and  speaks  now  to  all 
who  hear  Him,  and  to  us  amongst  the  rest  of  His 
auditors.  He  bids  us  believe  Him,  and  believe  some- 
thing about  Him  on  the  strength  of  His  own  testi- 
mony, or,  in  default  of  that,  and  as  second  best, 
believe  Him  on  the  testimony  of  His  works.    I  gather 


298  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xiv. 

together  what  I  have   to   say  about  this  point  into 
three  remarks. 

The  true  bond  of  union  between  men  and  Jesus 
Christ  is  faith.  We  have  to  trust,  and  that  is  better 
than  sight.  We  have  to  trust  Him.  He  is  the  personal 
Object  of  our  faith.  In  all  faith  there  is  what  I  may 
call  a  moral  and  a  voluntary  element.  A  man  believes 
a  proposition  because  it  is  forced  upon  him,  and  his 
intelligence  is  obliged  to  accept  it.  A  man  trusts 
Christ  because  he  will  trust  Him,  and  the  moral  and 
voluntary  element  carries  us  far  beyond  the  mere 
intellectual  conception  of  faith  as  the  assent  to  a  set 
of  theological  propositions.  Faith  really  is  the  out- 
going of  the  whole  man — heart,  will,  intellect,  and  all — 
to  a  person  whom  it  grasps.  But  the  Christ  that  you 
and  I  have  to  trust  is  the  Christ  as  He  Himself  has 
declared  Himself  to  us.  '  Believe  Me  that  I  am  in  the 
Father,  and  the  Father  in  Me.'  There  is  a  bastard, 
mutilated  kind  of  thing  that  calls  itself  Christian 
faith,  that  goes  about  the  world  in  this  generation, 
which  believes  in  Jesus  Christ  in  all  sorts  of  beautiful 
ways,  but  it  will  not  believe  in  Him  as  the  Personal 
Revelation  and  making  visible  of  the  unseen  God. 
Jesus  Christ  Himself  tells  us  here  that  that  is  not  the 
kind  of  faith  which  He  invites  us  to  put  forth.  If  we 
put  forth  that  only,  we  have  not  yet  come  to  under- 
stand Him.  Oh,  dear  friends  !  Christ  as  here  declared 
to  us  by  Himself  is  the  only  Christ  to  whom  it  is  right 
to  give  our  trust.  If  He  be  not  God  manifest  in  the 
flesh,  I  ought  not  to  trust  Him.  I  may  admire  Him  as 
a  historical  personage;  I  may  reverence  Him  for  His 
wisdom  and  beauty;  I  may  even  in  some  vague  way 
have  a  kind  of  love  to  Him.  But  what  in  the  name  of 
common  sense  shall  I  trust  Him  for  ?    And  why  should 


vs.  8-11]  THE  VISION  OF  GOD  299 

He  call  upon  me  to  exercise  faith  in  Him  unless  He 
stand  before  me  as  the  adequate  Object  of  a  man's 
trust — namely,  the  manifest  God  ? 

And  then,  further,  note  that  believing  in  the  sense  of 
trusting  is  seeing  and  knowing.  Philip  said,  '  Shew  us 
the  Father.'  Christ  answers,  'Believe,  and  thou  dost 
see.'  If  you  look  back  upon  the  previous  verses  of  this 
chapter,  you  will  find  that  in  the  earlier  portion  of  them 
the  key- word  is  '  know ' ;  that  in  the  second  portion  of 
them  the  key- word  is  '  see ' ;  that  in  this  portion  of 
them  the  key-word  is  '  believe.'  The  world  says,  *  Ah ! 
seeing  is  believing.'  The  Gospel  says,  'Believing  is 
seeing.'  The  true  way  to  knowledge,  and  to  a  better 
vision  than  the  uncertain  vision  of  the  eye,  is  faith.  In 
certitude  and  in  directness,  the  knowledge  of  God  that 
we  have  through  faith  in  the  Christ  whom  our  eyes 
have  never  seen  is  far  ahead  of  the  certitude  and  the 
directness  that  attach  to  our  mere  bodily  sight ;  and  so 
the  key  to  all  divine  knowledge,  and  the  sure  road  to 
the  truest  vision  of  God,  is  faith. 

Further,  faith,  even  if  based  upon  lower  than  the 
highest  grounds,  is  still  faith,  and  acceptable  to  Him : 
*  Or  else  believe  Me  for  the  very  works'  sake.'  The 
'  works '  are  mainly,  I  suppose,  though  not  exclusively, 
His  miracles.  And  if  so,  we  are  here  taught  that,  if  a 
man  has  not  come  to  that  point  of  spiritual  suscepti- 
bility in  which  the  image  of  Jesus  Christ  lays  hold 
upon  His  heart  and  obliges  him  to  trust  Him  and  to 
love  Him,  there  are  yet  the  miracles  to  look  at;  and 
the  faith  that  grasps  them,  and  by  help  of  that 
ladder  climbs  to  Him,  though  it  be  second  best,  is  yet 
real.  The  evidence  of  miracles  is  subordinate,  and  yet 
it  is  valid  and  true.  So  our  Lord  contradicts  both  the 
exaggerations  of  past  generations  and  the  exaggera- 


300  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.  xiv. 

tions  of  this,  and  neither  asserts  that  the  great  reason 
for  faith  is  miracles,  nor  that  miracles  are  of  no  use 
at  all.  Former  centuries  in  the  Christian  Church 
reiterated  the  former  exaggeration,  and  thus  partly 
provoked  the  exaggeration  of  this  day.  Let  us  keep 
the  middle  course :  there  is  a  better  way  of  coming  to 
Christ  than  through  the  gate  of  miracles,  and  that  is 
that  He  should  stamp  His  own  divine  sweetness  and 
elevation  upon  our  minds  and  hearts.  But  if  we  have 
not  reached  that  point,  do  not  let  us  kick  away  the 
ladder  that  may  help  us  to  it.  'Believe  Him  for  the 
very  works'  sake.'  Imperfect  faith  may  be  the  high- 
way to  perfection.  Let  us  follow  the  light,  if  it  be  but 
a  far-off  glimmer,  sure  that  it  will  bring  us  into  noon- 
tide day  if  we  are  faithful  to  its  leading. 

On  the  other  hand,  dear  friends,  let  us  remember 
that  no  faith  avails  itself  of  all  the  treasures  laid  up 
for  it,  which  does  not  lay  hold  upon  Christ  in  the 
character  in  which  He  presents  Himself.  The  only 
adequate,  worthy  trust  in  Him  is  the  trust  which 
grasps  Him  as  the  Incarnate  God  and  Saviour.  Only 
such  a  faith  does  justice  to  His  own  claim.  Only  such 
a  faith  is  the  sure  path  to  vision  and  to  knowledge. 
Only  such  a  faith  draws  down  the  blessing  of  a  ques- 
tioning intellect  answered,  a  hungry  heart  satisfied,  a 
conscience,  accusing  and  prophetic  of  a  judgment  to 
come,  cleansed  and  purified. 

To  each  of  us  Christ  addresses  His  merciful  invitation, 
'  Believe  Me  that  I  am  in  the  Father,  and  the  Father  in 
Me.'  May  we  all  answer,  'We  believe  that  Thou  art 
the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God  I  * 


CHRIST'S  WORKS  AND  OURS 

'  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you.  He  that  believeth  on  Me,  the  works  that  I  do 
Bhall  he  do  also ;  and  greater  works  than  these  shall  he  do ;  because  I  go  unto  My 
Father.  13.  And  whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in  My  name,  that  will  I  do,  that  the 
Father  may  be  glorified  in  the  Son.  11.  If  ye  shall  ask  any  thing  in  My  name,  I 
will  do  it.'— John  xiv.  12-14. 

I  HAVE  already  pointed  out  in  a  previous  sermon  that 
the  key-word  of  this  context  is  '  Believe ! '  In  three 
successive  verses  we  find  it,  each  time  widening  in  its 
application.  We  have  first  the  question  to  the  single 
disciple  :  '  Philip  !  believest  thou  not  ?  *  We  have  then 
the  invitation  addressed  to  the  whole  group :  '  Believe 
Me  ! '  And  here  we  have  a  wholly  general  expression 
referring  to  all  who,  in  every  generation  and  corner  of 
the  world,  put  their  trust  in  Christ,  and  extending  the 
sunshine  of  this  great  promise  to  whosoever  believeth 
in  Him.  Our  Lord  has  pointed  to  believing  as  the  great 
antidote  to  a  troubled  heart,  as  the  sure  way  of  know- 
ing the  Father,  as  the  better  substitute  for  sight ;  and 
now  here  He  opens  before  us  still  more  wonderful  pre- 
rogatives and  effects  of  faith.  His  words  carry  us  up 
into  lofty  and  misty  regions,  where  we  can  neither 
breathe  freely  nor  see  clearly,  except  as  we  hold  to 
His  words.  Therefore  He  prefaces  them  with  His 
'  Verily,  verily ! '  bidding  us  listen  to  them  with 
sharpened  attention  as  the  disclosure  of  something 
wonderful,  and  receive  them  with  unfaltering  confi- 
dence, on  His  authority,  however  marvellous  and 
otherwise  undiscoverable  they  may  be. 

What  is  it,  then,  that  He  thus  commends  to  our 
acceptance?  If  I  may  venture  a  paraphrase  which 
may  at  least  have  the  advantage  of  being  cast  into 
less  familiar  words,  it  is  just  this,  that  because  of, 
and  after,  Christ's  departure  from  earth,  He  will,  in 

801 


302  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

response  to  prayer,  work  upon  faithful  souls  in  such 
a  fashion  as  that  they  will  do  what  He  did,  and  in 
some  sense  will  do  even  more. 

I.  We  have  here  the  continuous  work  of  the  exalted 
Lord  for  and  through  His  servants. 

These  disciples,  of  course,  were  trembling  and 
oppressed  with  the  thought  that  the  departure  of 
Jesus  would  be  the  end  of  His  ceaseless  activity  for 
them,  on  which  they  had  depended  implicitly  for  so 
long.  Henceforward,  whatever  distress  or  need  might 
come,  that  Voice  would  be  silent,  and  that  Hand 
motionless,  and  they  would  be  left  to  face  every  storm, 
uncompanioned  and  uncounselled.  Some  of  us  know 
how  dreary  such  experience  makes  life,  and  we  can 
understand  how  these  men  shrank  from  the  prospect. 
Christ's  words  give  strength  to  meet  that  trial,  and  not 
only  tell  them  that  after  He  is  gone  they  will  be  able 
to  do  what  they  cannot  do  now,  and  what  He  used  to 
do  for  them,  but  that  in  them  He  will  work  as  well  as 
for  them,  and  be  the  power  of  their  action,  after  He 
has  departed. 

For,  notice  the  remarkable  connection  of  the  words 
with  which  we  are  dealing.  '  He  that  believeth  on  Me, 
the  works  that  I  do  shall  he  do,'  and  the  ground  of 
that  is  '  because  I  go  to  My  Father,'  and  whatsoever 
the  believer  '  shall  ask,  /  will  do.' 

So,  then,  there  are  here  two  very  distinct  paths 
on  which  Christ  represents  to  us  that  His  future 
activity  will  travel ;  the  one,  that  of  doing  for  us,  in 
response  to  our  prayers;  the  other  that  of  working 
on  us  and  in  us,  so  that  our  acts  are  His  and  His  acts 
are  ours.  We  may  look  at  these  two  for  a  moment 
separately. 

Here,  then,  there  is  clearly  stated  this  great  thought, 


vs.  12-14]   CHRIST'S  WORKS  AND  OURS   303 

that  Christ's  removal  from  the  world  is  not  the  end 
of  His  activity  in  the  world  and  on  material  things, 
but  that,  absent,  He  still  is  a  present  power,  and 
having  passed  through  death,  and  been  removed  from 
sense.  He  can  still  operate  upon  the  things  round  us, 
and  move  these  according  to  His  will.  We  are  not  to 
water  down  such  words  as  these  into  any  such  thought 
as  that  the  continuous  influence  of  the  memory  and 
history  of  His  past  will  be  a  present  power  in  all  ages. 

That  is  true,  gloriously  and  uniquely  true,  but  that 
is  not  the  truth  which  He  speaks  here.  Over  and 
above  that  perpetual  influence  of  past  recorded 
work,  there  is  the  present  influence  of  His  present 
work,  and  to-day  He  is  working  as  truly  as  He 
wrought  when  on  earth.  One  form  of  His  work  was 
finished  on  Calvary,  as  His  dying  breath  proclaimed; 
but  there  is  another  work  of  Christ  in  the  midst  of 
the  ages,  moving  the  pawns  on  the  chessboard  of  the 
world,  and  presiding  over  the  fortunes  of  the  solemn 
conflict,  which  will  not  be  ended  until  that  day  when 
the  angel  voices  shall  chant,  '  It  is  done !  The  kingdoms 
of  the  world  are  the  kingdoms  of  our  God  and  of  His 
Christ.'  The  living  Christ  works  by  a  true  forth- 
putting  of  His  own  present  power  upon  material 
things,  and  amidst  the  providences  of  life.  And 
therefore  these  disciples  were  not  to  be  cast  down 
as  if  His  work  for  them  were  ended. 

Now  it  is  clear,  of  course,  that  such  words  as  these 
do  demand  for  their  vindication  something  perfectly 
unique  and  solitary  in  the  nature  and  person  of  Jesus 
Christ.  All  other  men's  work  is  cut  in  twain  by  death. 
'  This  man,  having  served  his  generation  by  the  will 
of  God,  fell  on  sleep  and  was  gathered  to  his  fathers, 
and    saw    corruption,'  that  is    the    epitaph  over  the 


304  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.  xiv. 

greatest  thinkers,  statesmen,  heroes,  poets,  the  epitaph 
for  the  tenderest  and  most  hopeful.  Father,  mother, 
husband,  wife,  child,  friend,  all  cease  to  act  when 
they  die,  and  though  thunders  should  break,  they  are 
silent  and  can  help  no  more.  But  Christ  is  living 
to-day,  and  working  all  around  us. 

Now,  brethren,  it  is  of  the  last  importance  for  the 
joyousness  of  our  Christian  lives,  and  for  the  courage 
of  our  conflict  with  sorrow  and  sin,  that  we  should 
give  a  very  prominent  place  in  our  creeds,  and  our 
hearts,  to  this  great  truth  of  a  living  Christ.  What 
a  joyful  sense  of  companionship  it  brings  to  the 
solitary,  what  calmness  of  vision  in  contemplating 
the  complications  and  calamities  of  the  world's  history, 
if  we  grasp  firmly  the  assurance  that  the  living  Christ 
is  actually  working  by  the  present  forth-putting  of  His 
power  in  the  world  to-day ! 

But  that  is  not  all.  There  is  another  path  on  which 
our  Lord  shows  us  here  a  glimpse  of  His  working, 
not  only  for  us,  but  on  and  in  and  therefore  through 
us,  so  that  the  deeds  that  we  do  in  faith  that  rests  upon 
Him  are  in  one  aspect  His,  and  in  another  ours. 

'The  works  that  I  do  shall  He  do  also';  because 
'  whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  I  will  do  it.' 

We  have  not  to  think  only  of  a  Lord  whose  activity 
for  us,  beneficent  and  marvellous  as  it  is,  was  finished 
in  the  misty  past  upon  the  Cross,  nor  have  we  only 
to  think  of  a  Lord  whose  activity  for  us,  mighty  and 
comforting  as  it  is  to  all  the  solitary  and  struggling, 
is  wrought  as  from  the  heights  of  the  heavens,  but  we 
have  to  think  of  One  who  is  beside  us  and  in  us  and 
knows  the  hidden  paths  that  no  eye  sees,  and  no  foot 
but  His  can  tread,  into  the  inmost  recesses  of  our 
souls,  and  there  can  enter  as  King  and  righteousness, 


VS.12-U]    CHRIST'S  WORKS  AND  OURS  305 

as  life  and  strength.  This  is  the  deepest  of  the  lessons 
that  He  would  teach  us  here.  *  I  live,  yet  not  I,  but 
Christ  liveth  in  me,'  and  through  me,  if  I  keep  close 
to  Him,  will  work  mightily  in  forms  that  my  poor 
manhood  could  never  have  reached.  The  emblem  of 
the  vine  and  the  branches,  and  the  other  emblem  of 
the  house  and  its  inhabitants,  and  the  other  of  the  head 
and  the  members,  all  point  to  this  one  same  thing 
which  shallow  and  unspiritual  men  call  'mystical,' 
but  which  is  the  very  heart  of  the  Christian  prerogative 
and  the  anchor  of  the  Christian  hope.  Christ  in  us  is 
our  present  righteousness  and  our  hope  of  a  future 
glory. 

And  now  mark  that  a  still  more  solemn  and 
mysterious  aspect  of  this  union  of  Jesus  Christ  and 
the  believer  is  given,  since  it  is  set  forth  as  resulting 
in  our  doing  Christ's  works,  and  Christ  doing  ours ; 
and  therein  is  paralleled  with  the  yet  more  wonderful 
and  ineffable  union  between  the  Father  and  the  Son. 
It  is  no  accident  that  in  one  clause  He  says,  '  I  am  in 
the  Father,  and  the  Father  in  Me.  The  words  that 
I  speak  unto  you  I  speak  not  of  Myself,  but  the 
Father  that  dwelleth  in  Me,  He  doeth  the  works'; 
and  that  in  the  next  He  says,  '  The  works  that  I  do 
shall  he  do  also ' ;  and  so  bids  us  see  in  that  union 
between  the  Father  and  the  Son,  and  in  that  con- 
sequent union  of  co-operation  between  Him  and  His 
Father,  a  pattern  after  which  our  union  with  Him  is 
to  be  moulded,  both  as  regards  the  closeness  of  its 
intimacy  and  as  regards  the  resulting  manifestations 
in  life.  Christ  is  in  us  and  we  in  Christ  in  some 
measure  as  the  Son  is  in  the  Father  and  the  Father  in 
the  Son.  And  the  works  that  we  do  He  does  in  some 
fashion  that  faintly  echoes  and  shadows  the  perfect 
VOL.  II.  u 


306  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

co-operation  of  the  Father  and  the  Son  in  the  works 
that  the  Christ  did  upon  the  earth. 

All  the  doings  of  a  Christian  man,  if  done  in  faith, 
and  holding  by  Christ,  are  Christ's  doings,  inasmuch 
as  He  is  the  life  and  the  power  which  does  them  all. 
And  Christ's  deeds  are  reproduced  and  perpetuated  in 
His  humble  follower,  inasmuch  as  the  life  which  is 
imparted  will  unfold  itself  according  to  its  own  kind ; 
and  he  that  loves  Christ  will  be  changed  into  His 
likeness,  and  become  a  partaker  of  His  Spirit.  So  let 
us  curb  all  self-dependence  and  self-will,  that  that 
mighty  tide  may  flow  into  us;  and  let  us  cast  from 
us  all  timidity,  distrust,  and  gloom,  and  be  strong 
in  the  assurance  that  we  have  a  Christ  living  in  the 
heavens  to  work  for  us,  and  living  within  us  to  work 
through  us. 

There  is  no  record  of  the  Ascension  in  John's 
Gospel,  but  these  words  of  my  text  unveil  to  us 
the  inmost  meaning  of  that  Ascension,  and  are  in  full 
accord  with  the  great  picture  which  one  of  the  Evan- 
gelists has  drawn — a  picture  in  two  halves,  which  yet 
are  knit  together  into  one.  'So  then,  after  He  had 
spoken  unto  them,  He  was  received  up  into  heaven, 
and  sat  at  the  right  hand  of  God;  and  they  went 
forth  and  preached  everywhere.'  What  a  contrast 
between  the  two — the  repose  above,  the  toil  below! 
Yes !  But  the  next  words  knit  them  together — '  The 
Lord  also  working  with  them,  and  confirming  the 
word  with  signs  following.' 

II.  Note,  in  the  next  place,  the  greater  work  of 
the  servants  on  and  for  whom  the  Lord  works. 
'Greater  works  than  these  shall  he  do.'  Is,  then,  the 
servant  greater  than  his  Lord,  and  he  that  is  sent 
greater  than  He  that  sent  him?     Not  so,  for  what- 


VS.12-U]   CHRIST'S  WORKS  AND  OURS   307 

soever  the  servant  does  is  done  because  the  Lord  is 
with  and  in  him,  and  the  contrast  that  is  drawn 
between  the  works  that  Christ  does  on  earth  and 
the  greater  works  that  the  servant  is  to  do  here- 
after is,  properly  and  at  bottom,  the  contrast  between 
Christ's  manifestations  in  the  time  of  His  earthly 
limitation  and  humiliation,  and  His  manifestations  in 
the  time  of  His  Ascension  and  celestial  glory. 

We  need  not  be  afraid  that  such  great  words  as 
these  in  any  measure  trench  on  the  unique  and  un- 
approachable character  of  the  earthly  work  of  Christ 
in  its  two  aspects,  which  are  one — of  Revelation  and 
Redemption.  These  are  finished,  and  need  no  copy,  no 
repetition,  no  perpetuation,  until  the  end  of  time.  But 
the  work  of  objective  Revelation,  which  was  completed 
when  He  ascended,  and  the  work  of  Redemption  which 
was  finished  when  He  rose — these  require  to  be  applied 
through  the  ages.  And  it  is  in  regard  to  the  appli- 
cation of  the  finished  work  of  Christ  to  the  actual 
accomplishment  of  its  contemplated  consequences, 
that  the  comparison  is  drawn  between  the  limited 
sphere  and  the  small  results  of  Christ's  work  upon 
earth,  and  the  worldwide  sweep  and  majestic  magni- 
tude of  the  results  of  the  application  of  that  work 
by  His  servants'  witnessing  work.  The  wider  and 
more  complete  spiritual  results  achieved  by  the 
ministration  of  the  servants  than  by  the  ministra- 
tion of  the  Lord  is  the  point  of  comparison  here.  And 
I  need  only  remind  you  that  the  poorest  Christian 
who  can  go  to  a  brother  soul,  and  by  word  or  life  can 
draw  that  soul  to  a  Christ  whom  it  apprehends  as 
dying  for  its  sins  and  raised  for  its  glorifying,  does  a 
mightier  thing  than  it  was  possible  for  the  Master  to 
do  by  life  or  lip  whilst  He  was  here  upon  earth.    For 


308  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.xiv. 

the  Redemption  had  to  be  completed  in  act  before  it 
could  be  proclaimed  in  word ;  and  Christ  had  no  such 
weapon  in  His  hands  with  which  to  draw  men's  souls, 
and  cast  down  the  high  places  of  evil,  as  we  have 
when  we  can  say,  'We  testify  unto  you  that  the  Son 
of  God  hath  died  for  our  sins,  and  is  raised  again 
according  to  the  Scriptures.'  Nor  need  I  do  more  than 
remind  you  of  the  comparison,  so  exalting  for  His  humi- 
lity and  so  humbling  for  our  self-exaltation,  between 
the  narrow  sphere  in  which  His  earthly  ministrations 
had  to  operate  and  the  worldwide  scope  which  is 
given  to  His  servants.  'He  laid  His  hands  on  a  few 
sick  folk,  and  healed  them';  and  at  the  end  of  His 
life  there  were  one  hundred  and  twenty  disciples  in 
Jerusalem  and  five  hundred  in  Galilee,  and  you  might 
have  put  them  all  into  this  chapel  and  had  ample 
room  to  spare.  That  was  all  that  Jesus  Christ  had 
done;  while  to-day  and  now  the  world  is  being 
leavened  and  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth  are  beginning 
to  recognise  His  name.  'Greater  works  than  these 
shall  he  do '  who  lets  Christ  in  him  do  all  His  works. 

III.  Lastly,  notice  the  conditions  on  which  the 
exalted  Lord  works  for  and  on  His  servants. 

These  are  two,  faith  and  prayer. 

'  He  that  believeth  on  Me,  the  works  that  I  do  shall 
he  do  also.'  Faith,  the  simple  act  of  loving  trust  in 
Jesus  Christ,  opens  the  door  of  our  hearts  and  natures 
for  the  entrance  of  all  His  solemn  Omnipotence,  and 
makes  us  possessors  of  it.  It  is  the  condition,  and 
the  only  condition,  and  plainly  the  indispensable  con- 
dition, of  possessing  this  divine  Christ's  power,  that 
we  should  trust  ourselves  to  Him  that  gives  it.  And 
if  we  do,  then  we  shall  not  trust  in  vain,  but  to  us 
there  will  come  power  that  will  surpass  our  desire, 


vs.  12-U]   CHRIST'S  WORKS  AND  OURS   809 

and  fill  us  with  its  own  rejoicing  and  pure  energy. 
Faith  will  make  us  like  Christ.  Faith  is  intensely 
practical.  ' He  that  believeth  shall  do'  It  is  no  mere 
cold  assent  to  a  creed  which  is  utterly  impotent  to 
operate  upon  men's  acts,  no  mere  hysterical  emotion 
which  is  utterly  impotent  to  energise  into  nobilities  of 
service  and  miracles  of  consecration,  but  it  is  the 
affiance  of  the  whole  nature  which  spreads  itself  before 
Him  and  prays,  'Fill  my  emptiness  and  vitalise  me 
with  Thine  own  Spirit.'  That  is  the  faith  which  is 
ever  answered  by  the  inrush  of  the  divine  power,  and 
the  measure  of  our  capacity  of  receiving  is  the  measure 
of  His  gift  to  us. 

So  if  Christian  individuals  and  Christian  communi- 
ties are  impotent,  or  all  but  impotent,  there  is  no 
difficulty  in  understanding  why.  They  have  cut  the 
connection,  they  have  shut  the  tap.  They  lack  faith ; 
and  so  their  power  is  weakness.  *  Why  could  we  not 
cast  him  out?'  said  they,  perplexed  when  they  had 
no  need  to  be.  'Why  could  you  not  cast  him  out? 
Because  you  do  not  believe  that  I,  working  in  you, 
can  cast  him  out.  That  is  why ;  and  the  only  why.' 
Let  us  learn  that  the  secret  of  Christians'  weakness 
is  the  weakness  of  their  Christian  faith. 

And  the  other  condition  is  prayer.  '  Whatsoever  ye 
shall  ask  in  My  name  I  will  do  it,'  and  He  repeats 
it,  for  confirmation  and  for  greater  emphasis.  '  If  ye 
shall  ask  anything  in  My  name,'  or,  as  perhaps  that 
clause  ought  to  be  read  with  some  versions,  'If  ye 
shall  ask  Me  anything  in  My  name  I  will  do  it.' 

Three  points  may  be  named  here.  Our  power  de- 
pends upon  our  prayer.  God's  and  Christ's  fullness  and 
willingness  to  communicate  do  not  depend  upon  our 
prayer.    But  our  capacity  to  receive  of  that  fullness,  and 


310  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.xiv. 

so  the  possibility  of  its  communication  to  us,  do  depend 
upon  our  prayer.     '  We  have  not  because  we  ask  not.' 

The  power  of  our  prayer  depends  upon  our  conscious 
oneness  with  the  revealed  Christ.  '  If  ye  shall  ask  in 
My  name,'  says  He.  And  people  think  they  have 
fulfilled  the  condition  when,  in  a  mechanical  and  ex- 
ternal manner,  they  say,  as  a  formula  at  the  end  of 
petitions  that  have  been  all  stuffed  full  of  self-will  and 
selfishness,  'for  Christ's  sake.  Amen!'  and  then  they 
wonder  they  do  not  get  them  answered !  Is  that  asking 
in  Christ's  name  ? 

Christ's  name  is  the  revelation  of  Christ's  character, 
and  to  do  a  thing  in  the  name  of  another  person  is  to  do 
it  as  His  representa-tive,  and  as  realising  that  in  some 
deep  and  real  sense — for  the  present  purpose  at  all 
events — we  are  one  with  Him.  And  it  is  when  we 
know  ourselves  to  be  united  to  Christ  and  one  with 
Him,  and  representative  in  a  true  fashion  of  Himself, 
as  well  as  when,  in  humble  reliance  on  His  work  for 
us  and  His  loving  heart,  we  draw  near,  that  our 
prayer  has  power,  as  the  old  divines  used  to  say,  'to 
move  the  Hand  that  moves  the  world,'  and  to  bring 
down  a  rush  of  blessing  upon  our  heads.  Prayer  in 
the  name  of  Christ  is  hard  to  offer.  It  needs  much 
discipline  and  watchfulness ;  it  excludes  all  self-will 
and  selfishness.  And  if,  as  my  text  tells  us,  the  end 
of  the  Son's  working  is  the  glory  of  the  Father,  that 
same  end,  and  not  our  own  ease  or  comfort,  must  be 
the  end  and  object  of  all  prayer  which  is  offered  in 
His  name.  When  we  so  pray  we  get  an  answer.  And 
the  reason  why  such  multitudes  of  prayers  never 
travel  higher  than  the  roof,  and  bring  no  blessings  to 
him  who  prays,  is  because  they  are  not  prayers  in 
Christ's  name. 


vs.  12-14]   CHRIST'S  WORKS  AND  OURS   811 

Prayer  in  His  name  will  pass  into  prayer  to  Him. 
As  He  not  obscurely  teaches  us  here  (if  we  adopt  the 
reading  to  which  I  have  already  referred),  He  has  an 
ear  to  hear  such  requests,  and  He  wields  divine  power 
to  answer.  Surely  it  was  not  blasphemy  nor  any 
diversion  of  the  worship  due  to  God  alone,  when  the 
dying  martyr  outside  the  city  wall  cried  and  said,  'Lord 
Jesus  !  receive  my  spirit.'  Nor  is  it  any  departure  from 
the  solemnest  obligations  laid  upon  us  by  the  unity  of 
the  divine  nature,  nor  are  we  bringing  idolatrous  peti- 
tions to  another  than  the  Father,  when  we  draw  near 
to  Christ  and  ask  Him  to  give  us  that  which  He  gives 
as  the  Father's  gift,  and  to  work  on  us  that  which 
the  Father  that  dwelleth  in  Him  works  through  Him 
for  us. 

Trust  yourselves  to  Christ,  and  let  your  desires  be 
stilled,  to  listen  to  His  voice  in  you,  and  )ei  that  voice 
speak.  And  then,  dear  brethren,  we  shall  be  lifted  above 
ourselves,  and  strength  will  flow  into  us,  and  we  shall  be 
able  to  say,  *  I  can  do  all  things,  through  the  Christ  that 
dwells  in  me  and  makes  me  strong.'  And  just  as  the 
glad,  sunny  waters  of  the  incoming  tide  fill  the  empty 
places  of  some  oozy  harbour,  where  all  the  ships  are 
lying  as  if  dead,  and  the  mud  is  festering  in  the  sun- 
shine, so  into  the  slimy  emptiness  of  our  corrupt  hearts 
there  will  pour  the  flashing  sunlit  wave,  the  ever  fresh 
rush  of  His  power ;  and  '  everything  will  live  whither- 
soever it  Cometh,'  and  we  shall  be  able  to  say  in 
all  humility,  and  yet  in  glad  recognition  of  Christ's 
faithfulness  to  this,  His  transcendent  promise,  'I  live, 
yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me,'  'because  the  life 
which  I  live  in  the  flesh  I  live  by  faith  of  the  Son  of 
God.' 


LOVE  AND  OBEDIENCE 

•If  ye  love  Me,  keep  My  commandments.'— John  xiv.  15. 

As  we  have  seen  in  former  sermons,  the  keyword  of 
the  preceding  context  is  'Believe!'  and  that  word 
passes  now  into  'Love.'  The  order  here  is  the  order 
of  experience.  There  is  first  the  believing  gaze  upon 
the  Christ  as  He  is  revealed— the  image  of  the  invisible 
God.    That  kindles  love,  and  prompts  to  obedience. 

There  is  another  very  beautiful  and  subtle  link  of 
connection  between  these  words  and  the  preceding. 
Our  Lord  has  just  been  saying,  '  Whatsoever  ye  shall 
ask  in  My  name,  that  will  I  do.'  Is  the  parallel  wholly 
accidental  or  fanciful  between  the  Lord  who  does  aa 
the  servant  asks  and  the  servant  who  is  to  do  as  the 
Lord  commands  ?  On  both  sides  there  is  love  delight- 
ing to  be  set  in  motion  by  a  message  from  the  other 
side.  On  the  one  part  there  is  love  supreme  which 
commands  and  delights  to  be  asked,  on  the  other  part 
there  is  love  dependent,  which  asks  and  delights  to 
be  commanded ;  and  though  the  gulf  between  the  two 
is  great,  and  the  difference  between  Christ's  law  and 
our  petitions  is  infinite,  yet  there  is  an  analogy. 

I  pause  on  these  words,  though  they  are  introduced 
here  only  as  the  basis  of  the  great  promise  which 
follows,  because  they  open  out  into  such  wide  fields. 
They  contain  the  all-sufficient  law  of  Christian  con- 
duct. They  contain  the  one  motive  adequate  to  bring 
that  law  into  realisation.  They  disclose  the  very  roots 
of  Christian  morality,  and  part  of  the  secret  of  Christ's 
unique  power  and  influence  amongst  men.  They  come 
with  a  message  of  encouragement  to  all  souls  despair- 
ing of  being  able  to  do  that  which  they  would,  and  of 


V.15]  LOVE  AND  OBEDIENCE  813 

freedom  to  all  men  burdened  with  a  crowd  of  minute 
and  external  regulations.  'If  ye  love  Me,  keep  My 
commandments' — there  are  three  points  to  be  dwelt 
upon  here — namely,  the  all-sufficient  ideal  or  guide  of 
life,  the  all-powerful  motive  which  Christ  brings  to 
bear,  and  the  all-subduing  gaze  of  faith  by  which  that 
motive  is  brought  into  action. 

I.  We  have  here  the  all-sufficient  ideal  or  guide  for 
life. 

Jesus  Christ  is  not  speaking  merely  to  that  little 
handful  of  men  in  the  upper  chamber,  but  to  all 
generations  and  to  all  lands,  to  the  end  of  time  and 
round  the  world.  The  authoritative  tone  which  He 
assumes  here  is  very  noteworthy.  He  speaks  as 
Jehovah  spoke  from  Sinai,  and  quotes  the  very  words 
of  the  old  law  when  He  speaks  of  'keeping  My  com- 
mandments.' There  are  distinctly  involved  in  this 
quite  incidental  utterance  of  Christ's  two  startling 
things — one  the  assumption  of  His  right  to  impose 
His  will  upon  every  human  being,  and  the  other  His 
assumption  that  His  will  contains  the  all-sufficient 
directory  for  human  conduct. 

What,  then,  are  His  commandments?  Those  which 
He  spoke  are  plain  and  simple ;  and  people  who  wish 
to  pick  holes  in  the  greatness  of  Christ's  work  in  the 
world  tell  us  that  you  can  match  almost  all  His 
precepts  up  and  down  amongst  moralists  and  philo- 
sophers, and  they  crow  very  loud  if,  scratching 
amongst  Rabbinical  dust-heaps,  they  find  something 
that  looks  like  anything  that  He  once  said.  Be  it  so ! 
What  does  that  matter?  Christ's  'commandments' 
are  Christ  Himself.  This  is  the  originality  and  unique- 
ness of  Christ  as  a  moral  Teacher,  that  He  says,  not 
•Do  this,  that,  and  the  other  thing,'  but  'Copy  Me.' 


314  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

'Take  My  yoke  upon  you  and  learn  of  Me,  for  I  am 
meek  and  lowly  in  heart.'  His  commandments  are 
Himself;  and  the  sum  of  them  all  is  this — a  character 
perfectly  self  -  oblivious,  and  wholly  penetrated  and 
saturated  with  joyful,  filial  submission  to  the  Father, 
and  uttermost  and  entire  giving  Himself  away  to  His 
brethren.  That  is  Christ's  commandment  which  He 
bids  us  keep,  and  His  law  is  to  be  found  in  His  life. 

And  then,  if  that  be  so,  what  a  change  passes  on 
the  aspect  of  law,  when  we  take  Christ  as  being  our 
living  embodiment  of  it!  Everything  that  was  hard, 
repellent,  far-ofP,  cold,  vanishes.  We  have  no  longer 
'tables  of  stone,'  but  'fleshy  tables  of  the  heart';  and  the 
Law  stands  before  us,  a  Being  to  be  loved,  to  be  clung 
to,  to  be  trusted,  and  whom  it  is  blessedness  to  know 
and  perfection  to  resemble.  The  rails  upon  which  the 
train  travels  may  be  rigid,  but  they  mean  safety,  and 
they  carry  men  smoothly  into  otherwise  inaccessible 
lands.  So  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ  brought  to  us  is 
the  firm  and  plain  track  along  which  we  are  to  travel ; 
and  all  that  was  difficult  and  hard  in  the  cold  thought 
of  duty  becomes  changed  into  the  attraction  of  a 
living  Pattern  and  Example.  This  living  and  breath- 
ing and  loving  commandment  is  all-sufficient  for  every 
detail  and  complexity  of  human  life.  It  is  so  by  the 
confession  of  believers  and  of  unbelievers,  by  the 
joyful  confession  of  the  one,  and  by  the  frank  acknow- 
ledgment of  many  of  the  others.  Listen  to  one  of 
them.  'Whatever  else  may  be  taken  away  from  us 
by  rational  criticism,  Christ  is  still  left,  a  unique 
Figure,  not  more  unlike  all  His  predecessors  than  all 
His  followers.  .  .  .  Religion  cannot  be  said  to  have 
made  a  bad  choice  in  selecting  this  Man  as  the  ideal 
Representative  and  Guide  of  humanity ;  nor  even  now 


V.15]  LOVE  AND  OBEDIENCE  315 

would  it  be  easy,  even  for  an  unbeliever,  to  find  a 
better  translation  of  the  rule  of  virtue  from  the  ab- 
stract into  the  concrete  than  to  endeavour  so  to  live 
that  Christ  would  approve  our  life.' 

It  is  enough  for  conduct,  it  is  enough  for  character, 
it  is  enough  in  all  perplexities  of  conflicting  duties, 
that  we  listen  to  and  obey  the  voice  that  says,  '  Keep 
My  commandments.' 

II.  Now  note,  secondly,  the  all-powerful  motive. 

Probably  my  text  is  best  understood  as  the  Revised 
Version  understands  it,  which  reads,  '  If  ye  love  Me, 
ye  will  keep  My  commandments,'  making  it  an  assur- 
ance and  not  an  injunction.  Christ  speaks  with  the 
calm  confidence  that  love  to  Him  will  have  power 
enough  to  sway  the  life.  His  utterance  here  is  not 
the  addition  of  another  commandment  to  the  list,  but 
rather  the  pointing  out  of  how  they  may  all  be  kept. 

The  principle  that  underlies  these  words,  then,  is 
this,  that  love  is  the  foundation  of  obedience,  and 
obedience  is  the  sure  outcome  and  result  of  love.  That 
is  true  in  regard  to  those  lower  forms  of  love,  which 
may  teach  us  something  of  the  operation  of  the  higher. 
We  all  know  that  love  which  is  real,  and  not  simply 
passion  and  selfishness  with  a  mask  on,  delights  most 
chiefly  in  knowing  and  conforming  to  the  will  of  the 
beloved,  and  that  there  is  nothing  sweeter  than  to  be 
commanded  by  the  dear  voice  and  to  obey  for  dear 
love's  sake.  And  you  have  only  to  take  that  which 
is  the  experience  of  every  true  heart,  in  a  thousand 
sweet  ways  in  daily  life,  and  to  lift  it  into  the  higher 
region,  and  to  transfer  it  to  the  bond  that  unites  us 
with  Jesus  Christ,  to  see  that  He  has  invoked  no 
illusory,  but  an  omnipotent  power  when  He  has  rested 
the  whole  force  of  His  transforming  and  sanctifying 


316  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xiv. 

energy  upon  this  one  principle,  'If  ye  love  Me,  the 
Lawgiver,  ye  will  keep  the  commandnients  of  My  Law.' 

That  is  exactly  what  distinguishes  and  lifts  the 
morality  of  the  Gospel  above  all  other  systems.  The 
worst  man  in  the  world  knows  a  great  deal  more  of 
his  duty  than  the  best  man  does.  It  is  not  for  want  of 
knowledge  that  men  go  to  the  devil,  but  it  is  for  want 
of  power  or  will  to  live  their  knowledge.  And  what 
morality  fails  to  do,  with  its  clearest  utterances  of 
human  duty,  Christ  comes  and  does.  The  one  law  is  like 
the  useless  proclamations  posted  up  in  some  rebellious 
district,  where  there  is  no  army  to  back  them,  and 
the  king's  authority  from  whom  they  come  is  flouted. 
The  other  law  gets  itself  obeyed.  Such  is  the  difference 
between  the  powerless  morality  of  the  world  and  the 
commandment  of  Jesus  Christ.  Here  is  the  road  plain 
and  straight.  What  matters  that,  if  there  is  no  force 
to  draw  the  cart  along  it  ?  There  might  as  well  be  no 
road  at  all.  Here  stand  all  your  looms,  polished  and 
in  perfect  order,  but  there  is  no  steam  in  the  boilers ; 
and  so  there  is  no  motion,  and  nothing  is  woven.  What 
we  want  is  not  law,  but  power,  and  what  the  Gospel 
gives  us,  and  stands  alone  in  giving  us,  is  not  merely 
the  knowledge  of  the  will  of  God,  and  the  clear  revela- 
tion of  what  we  ought  to  be,  but  the  power  to  be- 
come it. 

Love  does  that,  and  love  alone.  That  strong  force 
brought  into  action  in  our  hearts  will  drive  out  from 
thence  all  rivals,  all  false  and  low  things.  The  true 
way  to  cleanse  the  Augean  stables,  as  the  old  myth 
has  it,  was  to  turn  the  river  into  them.  It  would  have 
been  endless  work  to  wheel  out  the  filth  in  wheel- 
barrows loaded  by  spades:  turn  the  stream  in,  and  it 
will   sweep  away  all   the   foulness.      When   the   Ark 


V.15]  LOVE  AND  OBEDIENCE  817 

comes  into  the  Temple,  Dagon  lies,  a  mutilated  stump, 
upon  the  threshold.  When  Christ  comes  into  my 
heart,  then  all  the  obscene  and  twilight-loving  shapes 
that  lurked  there,  and  defiled  it,  will  vanish  like 
ghosts  at  cock-crowing  before  His  calm  and  pure 
Presence.  He,  and  He  alone,  entering  my  heart  by 
the  portals  of  my  love,  will  coerce  my  evil  and  stimu- 
late my  good.  And  if  I  love  Him,  I  shall  keep  His 
commandments. 

Now,  brethren,  here  is  a  plain  test  and  a  double- 
barrelled  one,  which  tries  both  our  love  and  our 
obedience  with  a  sharp  touchstone.  '  If  ye  love  Me, 
ye  will  keep  My  commandments.'  That  implies,  first, 
that  there  is  no  love  worth  calling  so  which  does  not 
keep  the  commandment.  All  the  emotional  and  the 
mystic,  and  the  so-called  higher  parts  of  Christian 
experience,  have  to  be  content  to  submit  to  this  plain 
test — do  they  help  us  to  live  as  Christ  would  have  us, 
and  that  because  He  would  have  us?  Love  to  Him 
that  does  not  keep  His  commandments  is  either 
spurious  or  dangerously  feeble.  The  true  sign  of  its 
presence  in  the  heart  and  the  noblest  of  its  operations 
is  not  to  be  found  in  high-pitched  expressions  of  fervid 
emotion,  nor  even  in  the  sacred  joys  of  solitary  com- 
munion, but  in  its  making  us,  while  in  the  rough 
struggle  of  daily  life,  and  surrounded  by  trivial  tasks, 
live  near  Him,  and  by  Him,  and  for  Him,  and  like 
Him.  If  I  live  so,  I  love  Him ;  if  not,  not.  Not  that 
I  mean  to  say  that  in  regard  to  each  individual  action 
of  a  Christian  man's  life  there  must  be  the  conscious 
presence  of  reference  to  the  supreme  love,  but  that 
each  individual  action  of  the  life  ought  to  come  from 
a  character  of  which  that  reference  to  the  supreme 
love  is  the  very  formative  principle  and  foundation. 


318  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

The  colouring  matter  put  in  at  the  fountain  will  dye 
every  drop  of  the  stream;  and  they  whose  inmost 
hearts  are  tinged  and  tinctured  with  the  sweet  love  of 
Jesus  Christ,  from  their  hearts  will  go  forth  issues 
of  life  all  coloured  and  moulded  thereby.  Test  your 
Christian  love  by  your  practical  obedience. 

And,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  obedience  worth 
calling  so  which  is  not  the  child  of  love ;  and  all  the 
multitude  of  right  things  which  Christians  do  without 
that  motive  are  made  short  work  of  by  that  con- 
sideration. Obedience  which  is  formal,  mechanical, 
matter-of-course,  without  the  presence  in  it  of  a  loving 
submission  of  the  will;  obedience  which  is  reluctant, 
calculated,  forced  upon  us  by  dread,  imitated  from 
others — all  that  is  nothing  ;  and  Jesus  Christ  does  not 
count  it  as  obedience  at  all.  This  is  a  sieve  with  very 
small  meshes,  and  there  will  be  a  great  deal  of  rubbish 
left  in  it  after  the  shaking.  '  If  ye  love  Me,  keep  My 
commandments.'  The  '  keeping  of  My  commandments ' 
which  has  not '  love  to  Me '  underlying  it  is  no  keeping 
at  all. 

III.  And  so,  lastly,  notice  the  all-subduing  gaze. 

That  is  not  included  in  my  text,  but  it  is  necessary 
in  order  to  complete  the  view  of  the  forces  to  which 
Jesus  Christ  here  entrusts  the  hallowing  of  life  and 
the  sanctifying  of  our  nature ;  and  we  are  led  to  refer 
to  it  by  what  I  have  already  pointed  out ;  the  connec- 
tion between  the  'love'  of  my  text  and  the  'believe' 
of  the  preceding  verses.  I  can  fancy  a  man  saying, 
'  Keep  His  commandments  ?  Woe  is  me  !  How  am  I 
to  keep  ? '  The  answer  is  '  Love.'  And  I  can  fancy  him 
saying  '  Love  ? '  Yes !  '  And  how  am  I  to  love  ?  I 
cannot  get  up  love  at  the  word  of  command,  or  by 
any  voluntary  effort.'     And  the  answer  comes  again, 


V.16]  LOVE  AND  OBEDIENCE  319 

*  Believe ! '  Trust  Christ,  and  you  will  love  Him.  Love 
Him  and  you  will  do  His  will.  And  then  the  ques- 
tion comes  again,  'Believe  what?'  And  the  answer 
comes,  'Believe  that  He  is  the  Son  of  God  who  died 
for  you.' 

Nothing  else  will  kindle  a  man's  love  than  the 
faithful  contemplation  and  grasp  of  Christ  in  that 
character  and  aspect.  Only  the  redeeming  Christ 
affords  a  reasonable  ground  for  our  love  to  Him.  Here 
is  a  dead  man,  dead  for  nineteen  centuries,  expecting 
you  and  me  to  have  towards  Him  a  vivid  personal 
affection  which  will  influence  our  conduct  and  our 
character.  What  right  has  He  to  expect  that  ?  There 
is  only  one  reasonable  ground  upon  which  I  may  be 
called  to  love  Jesus  Christ,  and  that  is  that  He  died  for 
me,  and  such  a  love  towards  such  a  Christ  is  the  only 
thing  which  will  wield  power  sufficient  to  guide,  to 
coerce,  to  restrain,  to  constrain,  and  to  sustain  my  weak, 
wayward,  rebellious,  and  sluggish  will.  All  other 
emotions  of  so-called  admiration  and  worship  and 
reverence  and  affection  for  Jesus  Christ  are  apt  to  be 
tepid ;  but  this  one  has  power  and  warmth  in  it. 

Here  is  a  unique  fact  in  the  history  of  the  world, 
that  not  only  did  He  make  this  astounding  claim  upon 
all  subsequent  generations ;  but  that  all  subsequent 
generations  have  responded  to  it,  and  that  to-day  there 
are  millions  of  men  who  love  Jesus  Christ  with  a  love 
warm,  personal,  deep,  powerful— the  spring  of  all  their 
goodness  and  the  Lord  of  their  lives.  Why  do  they? 
For  one  reason  only.  Because  they  believe  that  He 
died  for  them  individually,  and  that  He  lives  an 
ascended  yet  ever-present  Helper  and  Lover  of  their 
souls. 

My  brethren,  that  conviction,  and  that  conviction 


320  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.  xiv. 

only,  as  I  venture  to  affirm,  has  power  to  send  a  glow 
of  love  into  the  heart  which  will  move  all  the  limbs 
in  swift  and  happy  obedience.  That  conviction,  and 
that  conviction  alone,  will  melt  the  thick-ribbed  ice 
of  our  spirits  and  will  make  it  flow  down  in  sweet 
waters.  The  love  that  has  looked  upon  the  Cross  will 
be  the  fulfilling  of  the  law  of  Him  that  speaks  from  the 
Throne.  When  our  faith  has  grasped  Him,  as  enduring 
that  cross  for  us,  then  our  love  will  be  awakened  to 
hear  and  to  do  His  commandments. 

'We  love  Him  because  He  first  loved  us,'  and  such 
love  will  flower  and  fruit  in  obedience.  I  shall  keep 
His  commandments  when  I  love  Him.  I  shall  love 
Him  with  a  love  that  makes  my  will  plastic  and  my 
life  a  glad  service,  when  by  faith  I  grasp  Him  as  the 
Incarnate  Lord,  'who  loved  me  and  gave  Himself 
for  me.' 


THE  COMFORTER  GIVEN 

•And  I  will  pray  the  Father,  and  He  shall  give  yon  another  Comforter,  that  He 
may  abide  with  you  for  ever;  Even  the  Spirit  of  Truth;  whom  the  world 
cannot  receive,  because  it  seeth  Him  not,  neither  knoweth  Him :  but  ye  know 
Him ;  for  He  dwelleth  with  you,  and  shall  be  in  you.'— John  xiv.  16, 17. 

The  'and'  at  the  beginning  of  these  words  shows  us 
that  they  are  continuous  with  and  the  consequence  of 
what  precedes.  '  If  ye  love  Me,  ye  will  keep  My  com- 
mandments, and  /  will  pray  .  .  .  and  He  will  send.' 
Such  is  the  series;  but  we  must  also  remember  that,  as 
we  have  seen  in  previous  sermons,  the  obedience  spoken 
of  in  the  clause  before  my  text  is  itself  treated  as  a  con- 
sequence of  some  preceding  steps.  The  ladder  that  is 
fixed  upon  earth   and  has  its  summit  in  heaven  has 


vs.  16, 17]      THE  PRAYING  CHRIST  821 

for  its  rungs,  first  and  lowest, '  believe ' ;  second,  *  love ' ; 
third,  '  obey.'  And  thus  the  context  carries  us  from  the 
very  basis  of  the  Christian  life  up  into  its  highest  reward, 
even  the  larger  gift  to  an  obedient  spirit  of  that  Great 
Spirit,  who  is  the  Comforter  and  the  Teacher. 

And  there  is  another  very  striking  link  of  connection 
between  these  words  and  the  preceding.  There  are,  if 
I  may  so  say,  two  telephones  across  the  abyss  that 
separates  the  ascended  Christ  and  us.  One  of  them 
is  contained  in  His  words,  *If  ye  ask  anything  in  My 
name  I  will  do  it ' ;  the  other  is  contained  in  these 
words,  'If  ye  keep  My  commandments  I  will  ask.' 
Love  on  this  side  of  the  great  cleft  sets  love  on  the 
other  side  of  it  in  motion  in  a  twofold  fashion.  If  we 
ask.  He  does ;  if  we  do.  He  asks.  His  action  is  the 
answer  to  our  prayers,  and  His  prayers  are  the  answer 
to  our  obedient  action.  So  we  have  here  these  points — 
the  praying  Christ  and  the  giving  Father ;  the  abiding 
Gift ;  the  blind  world  and  the  recipient  disciples. 

I.  Note,  then,  first,  the  praying  Christ  and  the  giving 
Father. 

'I  will  ask  and  He  will  give'  seems  a  strange  drop 
from  the  lofty  claims  with  which  we  have  become 
familiar  in  the  earlier  verses  of  this  chapter.  '  Believe 
in  God,  believe  also  in  Me';  'He  that  hath  seen  Me 
hath  seen  the  Father';  'If  ye  shall  ask  anything  in 
My  name  I  will  do  it ' ;  '  Keep  My  commandments.'  All 
these  distinctly  express,  or  necessarily  imply,  divine 
nature,  prerogatives,  and  authority.  But  here  the 
voice  that  spake  the  perfect  revelation  of  God,  and 
gave  utterance  authoritatively  to  the  perfect  law  of 
life,  softens  and  lowers  its  tones  in  petition ;  and  Jesus 
Christ  joins  the  rank  of  the  suppliants.  Now  common 
sense  tells  us  that  apparently  diverse  views  lying  so 
VOL.  II.  X 


322  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xiv. 

close  together  in  one  continuous  stream  of  speech 
cannot  have  seemed  to  the  utterer  of  them  to  be 
contradictory  ;  and  I  venture  to  affirm  that  there  is  no 
explanation  which  does  justice  to  these  two  sides  of 
Christ's  consciousness — the  one  all  divine  and  authori- 
tative and  lofty,  and  the  other  all  lowly  and  identifying 
Himself  with  petitioners  and  suppliants  everywhere — 
except  the  old-fashioned  and  to-day  discredited  belief 
that  He  is  '  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,'  who  prays  in  His 
Manhood  and  hears  prayer  in  His  Divinity.  The  bare 
humanistic  view  which  emphasises  such  utterances  as 
these  of  my  text  does  not,  for  the  life  of  it,  know  what 
to  do  with  the  other  ones,  and  cannot  manage  to  unite 
these  two  images  into  a  stereoscopic  solid.  That  is 
reserved  for  the  faith  which  believes  in  the  Manhood 
and  in  the  Deity  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour. 

His  intercession  is  the  great  hope  of  the  Christian 
heart.  His  intercession  is  the  great  activity  of  His 
present  exalted  and  glorious  state.  His  intercession 
is  no  mere  verbal  utterance,  nor  the  representation  to 
the  Father  of  an  alien  or  a  diverse  will,  but  His  inter- 
cession, mysterious  as  it  is,  and  unfathomable  to  our 
poor,  short  lines  and  light  plummets,  must  mean  this 
at  all  events — His  continual  activity  in  presenting 
before  the  divine  Father,  as  the  motive  and  condition 
of  His  petition  being  granted,  His  own  great  work 
upon  the  Cross.  The  High  Priest  passes  within  the 
veil,  bearing  in  His  hand  the  offering  which  He  has 
made,  and  by  reason  of  that  offering,  and  of  His 
powerful  presence  before  the  mercy -seat,  all  the 
spiritual  gifts  which  redeem  and  regenerate  and  sanc- 
tify humanity  are  for  ever  coming  forth.  '  I  will  pray, 
and  He  will  give,'  is  but  one  way  of  saying,  'Seeing 
then,  that   we  have    a  great    High  Priest    over    the 


vs.  16, 17]      THE  PRAYING  CHRIST  323 

House  of  God  who  is  entered  within  the  veil,  let  us 
draw  near.' 

But  I  would  have  you  notice  how,  as  is  always  the 
case  in  all  utterances  of  Jesus  Christ  which  express 
the  lowest  humiliation  and  completest  identification 
of  Himself  with  humanity,  there  is  ever  present  some 
touch  of  obscured  glory,  some  all  but  suppressed  flash 
of  brightness  which  will  not  be  wholly  concealed. 
Note  two  things  in  this  great  utterance;  one,  Christ's 
quiet  assumption  that  all  through  the  ages,  and  to- 
day, nineteen  centuries  after  He  died.  He  knows,  at 
the  moment  of  their  being  done.  His  servants'  deeds. 
'  Keep  my  commandments,  and,  knowing  that  you  keep 
them,  I  will  then  and  there  pray  for  you.'  He  claims 
in  the  lowly  words  an  altogether  supernatural,  ab- 
normal, divine  cognisance  of  all  the  acts  of  men 
down  the  ages  and  across  the  gulf  between  earth  and 
heaven. 

And  the  other  signature  of  divinity  stamped  on  the 
prayer  of  Christ  is  His  certitude  of  the  answer.  'I 
will  ask  and  He  will  give ' :  He  puts,  as  it  were,  the 
Father's  act  in  pledge  to  us,  and  assures  us,  in  a  tone 
of  certainty,  which  is  not  merely  the  assurance  of 
faith,  but  the  certitude  of  One  who  is  'one  with  the 
Father,'  that  His  prayer  brings  ever  its  answer. 
'Father!  I  will  that  they  whom  Thou  hast  given  Me 
be  with  Me.'  How  strange !  How  far  beyond  the 
warrantable  language  of  man!'  And  how  impossible 
for  a  fisherman  of  Bethsaida  to  imagine,  if  he  had 
not  heard,  that  strange  blending  of  submission  and  of 
authority  which  speaks  in  such  words ! 

Then,  remember  what  I  have  already  said,  that, 
according  to  the  teaching  of  this  verse,  taken  in  con- 
nection with  its  context,   that  which  put  in  motion 


324  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.xiv. 

Christ's  intercessory  activity,  as  represented  in  my 
text,  is  the  obedience  of  a  Christian  man.  If  you  obey 
He  will  pray,  and  the  Father  will  send.  So  the  reward 
of  imperfect  obedience  is  the  larger  measure  given  to 
us  of  that  divine  Spirit  by  whose  indwelling  obedience 
becomes  possible,  and  self -surrender  a  joy  and  a  power. 
And  that  is  not  merely  because  of  the  natural  opera- 
tion by  which  any  kind  of  conduct  tends  to  repeat 
itself  in  more  complete  measure,  nor  is  it  merely  a  case 
of  '  to  him  that  hath  shall  be  given ' ;  as  a  man's  arm  is 
strengthened  by  exercise,  and  any  faculty  becomes 
more  assured,  and  swift,  and  at  the  command  of  its 
owner,  by  use.  But  there  is  a  distinct  supernatural 
impartation  to  every  obedient  heart  of  divine  gifts 
which  come  straight  through  Jesus  Christ  to  it.  He 
Himself,  in  this  immediate  context,  says, '  If  I  depart  I 
will  send  Him  unto  you,'  and  the  true  conception  is 
that  in  that  Spirit's  gift,  which  is  a  reality  waiting  as 
its  crown  and  reward  upon  our  poor  stained  obedience, 
the  whole  Godhead  is  present ;  the  Father  the  Source, 
the  Son  the  Channel,  the  Spirit  the  Gift. 

II,  And  so,  secondly,  note  what  our  text  tells  us  of 
that  abiding  gift. 

*  He  will  send  another  Comforter,'  '  that  He  may 
abide  with  you  for  ever,  even  the  Spirit  of  Truth.'  I 
suppose  I  may  take  it  for  granted  that  most  of  my 
audience  know  all  that  need  be  said  as  to  the  mean- 
ing of  this  word  'Comforter.'  In  our  present  modern 
English  it  has  a  very  much  narrower  range  of  mean- 
ing than  its  etymology  would  give  it,  and  than  pro- 
bably it  had  when  it  was  first  used  in  an  English 
translation.  'Comforter'  means  a  great  deal  more 
than  'consoler,'  though  we  have  narrowed  it  to  that 
signification  almost  exclusively.     It  means  not  only 


vs.  16, 17]     THE  PRAYING  CHRIST  325 

one  who  administers  sweet  whispers  of  consolation  in 
sorrow,  but  one  who,  in  any  circumstances,  by  his 
presence  makes  strong.  And  the  original  Greek  word, 
of  which  it  is  the  translation  here,  has  a  precisely 
analogous  meaning ;  its  original  signification  being 
that  of  'one  who  is  called  to  the  aid  of  another,' 
primarily  as  an  advocate  in  a  court  of  law,  but  more 
widely  as  a  helper  in  any  form  whatsoever.  And  that 
is  the  idea  which  is  to  be  attached  to  the  word  here : — 
a  Comforter  who  makes  strong  by  His  presence ;  the 
Paraclete,  who  is  our  Advocate,  Helper,  Guide,  and 
Instructor.  Need  I  dwell  upon  the  great  thoughts 
that  spring  from  that  metaphor ;  how  we  have  to  look 
for  a  Person,  and  not  merely  a  vague  influence ;  a 
divine  Person  who  will  be  by  our  sides  on  condition 
of  our  faith,  love,  and  obedience,  to  be  our  Strength 
in  all  weakness,  our  Peace  in  all  trouble,  our  Wisdom 
in  all  darkness,  our  Guide  in  every  perplexity,  our 
Comforter  and  Cherisher,  our  Righteousness  when  sin 
is  strong,  the  Victor  over  our  temptations,  and  the 
Companion  and  Sweetener  of  our  solitude  ?  The  meta- 
phors with  which  Scripture  represents  this  great 
personal  Influence  are  full  of  instruction  and  beauty. 
He  comes  as  'the  Fire,'  which  melts,  which  warms, 
which  cleanses,  which  quickens.  He  comes  as  the 
'rushing,  mighty  Wind,'  which  bears  health  upon  its 
wings,  and  sometimes  breathes  softly  as  an  infant's 
breath,  and  sometimes  sweeps  with  irresistible  power. 
He  comes  as  the  'Oil,'  gently  flowing,  lubricating, 
making  every  joint  supple,  nourishing.  He  comes  as 
the  'Water  of  Life,'  refreshing,  vitalising,  quickening 
all  growth.  He  comes  fluttering  down  as  the  Dove  of 
God,  the  bird  of  peace  that  will  brood  upon  our  hearts. 
The  predicates  which  Scripture  attaches  to  that  great 


326  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xiv. 

Name  are  equally  various,  and  are  full  of  teaching  as 
to  the  manner  in  which  He  is  the  Comforter  and  the 
Advocate.  He  is  the  Spirit  of  Holiness,  the  Spirit  of 
Truth,  the  Spirit  of  Wisdom,  the  Spirit  of  Power,  the 
Spirit  of  Love,  the  Spirit  of  a  sound  Mind,  the  Spirit  of 
Sonship,  the  Spirit  of  Supplication,  and  of  many  great 
things  besides.  And  this  sweet,  strong,  all-sufficient 
Person  is  offered  to  each  of  us,  and  waits  to  enter  our 
hearts. 

And,  says  Christ,  this  Strengthener  and  Advocate  is 
to  replace  Me  and  to  carry  on  My  work.  'He  will 
send  another  Comforter.'  Who  was  the  other  but  the 
Master  who  was  speaking?  So  all  that  that  handful 
of  men  had  found  of  sweetness  and  shelter  and  assured 
guidance,  and  stay  for  their  weakness,  and  enlighten- 
ment for  their  darkness,  and  companionship  for  their 
solitude,  and  a  breast  on  which  to  rest  their  heads, 
and  love  in  which  to  bathe  their  hearts,  all  these  this 
divine  Spirit  will  bring  to  each  of  us  if  we  will. 

And  further,  our  Lord  tells  us  that  this  strong 
continuer  of  His  presence  will  be  a  permanent  Com- 
panion. '  He  will  abide  with  you  for  ever.'  He  w^as 
comforting  the  disciples  who  were  trembling  at  the 
thought  of  His  departure,  and  knowing  that  all  the 
sweetness  of  these  three  short  years  had  come  to  an 
end ;  and  He  says  to  them,  and  through  them  to  all  the 
ages  to  the  end  of  time :  '  Here  is  the  abiding  Guest, 
that  nothing  but  your  own  ein  will  ever  cast  out  from 
your  hearts.' 

And  Christ  tells  us  how  this  great  Spirit  will  do 
His  work.  He  is  the  'Spirit  of  Truth,'  not  as  if  He 
brought  new  truth.  To  suppose  that  He  does  so,  opens 
the  door  to  all  manner  of  fanaticism,  but  the  truth, 
the  revelation  of  which  is  all  summed  and  finished 


vs.  16,17]     THE  PRAYING  CHRIST  827 

in  the  person  and  work  of  Jesus  Christ,  is  the  weapon 
by  which  the  divine  Spirit  works  all  His  conquests,  the 
staff  on  which  He  makes  us  lean  and  be  strong.  He  is 
the  Spirit  by  whom  the  truth  passes  into  our  personal 
possession,  by  no  mere  imperfect  form  of  outward 
teaching  which  is  always  confused  and  insufficient, 
but  by  the  inward  teaching  that  deals  with  our  hearts 
and  our  spirits. 

But  Christ  speaks,  too,  of  the  blind  world.  There  is 
a  tone  of  deep  sadness  in  His  words.  The  thought  of 
the  immense  multitude  of  men  who  were  incapacitated 
to  receive  this  Strengthener  steals  across  and  casts  a 
momentary  shadow  upon  even  the  brightness  and 
greatness  of  His  promise.  'The  world  cannot  receive 
because  it  seeth  Him  not,  neither  knoweth  Him.'  The 
*  world '  is  the  mass  of  man,  considered  as  godless  and 
separate  from  Him,  and  there  is  a  bit  of  the  world  in 
us  all;  but  there  are  men  who  are  wholly  under  its 
influence  and  dominion.  And  these  men,  says  Christ, 
are  perfectly  incapable  of  receiving  the  teaching  of 
this  divine  Comforter.  Of  course  there  are  other 
operations  of  that  Great  Spirit  of  which  we  shall  have 
to  hear  as  we  go  on  further  in  this  context,  in  which  His 
work  'convicts  the  world  of  sin  and  of  righteousness 
and  of  judgment.'  But  what  our  Lord  is  speaking  of 
here  is  the  work  of  that  Spirit  who  comes  in  response 
to  His  prayer  which  rises  in  consequence  of  our 
obedience,  and  who,  coming,  brings  with  Him  strength 
and  purity  and  peace  and  wisdom ;  and  that  aspect  of 
His  operations  a  heart  that  is  all  full  and  seething 
with  the  world  is  unfit  to  receive.  It  cannot  see  Him. 
Embruted  natures  are  altogether  incapacitated  for 
high  thoughts,  for  the  perception  of  natural  beauty, 
for  the  appreciation  of  art;  and  worldly  men,  by  the 


328  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.xiv. 

very  same  law,  are  incapable  of  receiving  this  divine 
Spirit.  A  savage  stares  at  the  sunshine  and  sees 
nothing  but  a  glare.  And  worldly  men — that  is  to  say, 
men  whose  tastes,  inclinations,  desires,  hopes,  purposes, 
strivings,  are  all  bound  by  this  visible  diurnal  round — 
lack  the  organ  that  enables  them  to  see  that  divine 
Spirit  moving  round  about  them.  Whether  you  have 
put  your  eyes  out  by  fleshly  lusts,  or,  as  many  men 
in  this  generation  have  done,  by  intellectual  self- 
sufficiency  and  conceit,  if  the  world,  in  its  grosser  oi 
in  its  most  refined  forms,  is  your  master,  you  are 
stone  blind  to  all  the  best  realities  of  the  universe,  and 
you  cannot  see  the  things  that  are.  If  you  look  out 
upon  the  history  of  the  Church,  or  upon  the  present 
condition  of  Christendom,  and  say,  *I  see  no  divine 
Spirit  working  there ' ;  well,  then,  the  only  thing  that 
is  to  be  said  to  you  is,  *  Go  to  an  oculist ;  your  sight  is 
bad.  Perhaps  there  is  solid  land,  as  some  of  us  see  it, 
where  you  see  only  mist.'  This  generation  needs  the 
preaching  of  a  supernatural  power  at  work  beside  us, 
and  among  us,  and  until  we  come  to  believe  that,  we  do 
not  understand  the  fullness  of  Christ's  gift. 

III.  Then,  lastly,  note  the  recipient  disciples. 

Observe  that  the  order  of  clauses  is  reversed  in  the 
last  part  of  the  text.  The  world  cannot  receive,  because 
it  does  not  know.  The  disciple  knows,  because  he 
receives.  Possession  and  knowledge  reciprocally  inter- 
change places,  and  may  be  regarded  as  cause  and  effect 
of  one  another.  That  is  to  say,  at  bottom  they  are 
one  and  the  same  thing.  Knowledge  is  possession,  and 
possession  is  the  only  knowledge.  These  disciples 
knew  Christ  in  a  fashion.  He  had  just  been  telling 
them  that  they  did  not  know  Him;  but  so  far  as 
they  did  dimly  grasp  Him,  they  saw  the  Spirit — in 


vs.  16,17]      THE  PRAYING  CHRIST  329 

another  form,  indeed,  than  they  would  hereafter  see — 
but  still  truly,  though  imperfectly.  Beholding  the 
Spirit,  though  '  through  a  glass  darkly,'  and  cherishing 
their  partial  possession  of  Him,  they  will  come  to  more, 
and  steadfastly  increase  from  the  morning's  twilight 
to  the  midday  glory.  So  He  says :  *  He  dwelleth 
with  you '  now,  and  '  He  shall  be  in  you '  hereafter. 
There  is  a  better  form  of  possession  opening  before 
them,  which  came  at  Pentecost,  and  has  lasted  ever 
since.  From  thenceforward  we  have  a  Spirit  that  not 
only  stands  by  our  sides  and  holds  fellowship  with  us 
(for  the  two  'withs'  of  our  text  are  two  different 
words,  expressing  respectively  proximity  and  com- 
munion), but  who  actually  dwells  in  the  central  depths 
of  our  natures,  and  whom  we  thus  possess  more  perfectly 
and  blessedly  than  is  possible  to  even  the  closest  out- 
ward proximity,  and  the  sweetest  outward  fellow- 
ship. 

That  possession  of  an  abiding  and  indwelling  Spirit 
is  the  gift  of  Christ  to  every  Christian  soul,  and  is  to 
be  found  by  us  all  upon  the  path  so  plainly  marked  out 
in  our  text  and  its  connections — '  believe,'  '  love,'  '  obey.' 
Then  the  Dove  of  God  will  flutter  down  upon  our 
heads  and  nestle  in  our  hearts,  and  brooding  over  the 
solemn  and  solitary  sea  of  our  chaotic  spirits,  will  bring 
up  from  it  a  new  world  glistening  in  fresh  order  and 
beauty,  and  '  very  good '  in  its  Maker's  eyes. 


THE  ABSENT  PRESENT  CHRIST 

'I  will  not  leave  you  comfortless  ;  I  will  come  to  you.  Yet  a  little  while,  and 
the  world  seeth  Me  no  more ;  but  ye  see  Me :  because  I  live,  ye  shall  live  also.' 
—John  xiv.  18, 19. 

The  sweet  and  gracious  comf ortings  with  which  Christ 
had  been  soothing  the  disciples'  fears  went  very  deep, 
but  hitherto  they  had  not  gone  deep  enough.  It  was 
much  that  they  should  know  the  purpose  of  His  going, 
whither  He  went,  and  that  they  had  an  interest  in  His 
departure.  It  was  much  that  they  should  have  before 
them  the  prospect  of  reunion ;  much  that  they  should 
know  that  all  through  His  absence  He  would  be  working 
in  them,  and  that  they  should  be  assured  that,  absent.  He 
would  send  them  a  great  gift.  But  reunion,  influence 
from  afar,  and  gifts  from  the  other  side  of  the  gulf 
were  not  all  that  their  hearts  needed.  And  so  here  our 
Lord  gives  yet  more,  in  the  paradoxes  that,  absent  He 
will  be  present,  unseen  visible,  and  dying  will  be  for 
them  for  ever,  living  and  life-giving.  These  great 
thoughts  go  to  the  centre  of  their  needs  and  of  ours ; 
and  on  them  I  now  touch  briefly. 

There  are  then  in  the  words  I  have  read,  though  they 
be  but  a  fragment  of  a  closely-linked-together  con- 
text, these  three  great  thoughts  :  the  absent  Christ  the 
present  Christ ;  the  unseen  Christ  the  seen  Christ ;  the 
Christ  who  dies  the  living  and  life-giving  Christ.  Let 
us  look  at  these  as  they  stand. 

I.  First,  then,  the  absent  Christ  is  the  present  Christ. 

'  I  will  not  leave  you  comfortless,'  or,  as  the  Revised 
Version  has  it,  '  desolate — I  come  to  you.'  Now,  most 
of  us  know,  I  suppose,  that  the  literal  meaning  of  the 
word  rendered  •  comfortless,'  or  *  desolate,'  is  '  orphans' 
But  that  is  rather  an  unusual  form  in  which  to  repre- 
sent the  relation  between  our  Lord  and  His  disciples, 

330 


vs.  18,19]    ABSENT  PRESENT  CHRIST       331 

and  so,  possibly,  our  versions  are  accurate  in  giving 
the  general  idea  of  desolation  rather  than  the  specific 
idea  conveyed  directly  by  the  word.  But  still  it  is  to 
be  remembered  that  this  whole  conversation  begins 
with  '  Little  children ';  and  there  seems  to  be  no  strong 
reason  for  suppressing  the  literal  meaning  of  the  word, 
if  only  it  be  remembered  that  it  is  employed  not  so 
much  to  define  Christ's  relation  to  his  brethren  as  to 
describe  the  comfortless  and  helpless  condition  of  that 
little  group  when  left  by  Him.  They  would  be  like 
fatherless  and  motherless  children  in  a  cold  world. 
And  what  is  to  hinder  that?  One  thing  only.  'I 
come  to  you.'  '  Then,  and  only  then,  will  you  cease  to 
be  desolate  and  orphans.  My  presence  will  change 
everything  and  turn  winter  into  glorious  summer.' 

Now,  what  is  this  'coming'?  It  is  to  be  observed 
that  our  Lord  says,  not  'I  will,'  as  a  future,  but  'I 
come,'  or  '  I  am  coming,'  as  an  immediately  impending, 
and,  we  may  almost  say,  present,  thing.  There  can 
be  no  reference  in  the  word  to  that  final  coming  to 
judgment  which  lies  so  far  ahead ;  because,  if  there 
were,  then  there  would  follow  from  the  text,  that, 
until  that  period,  all  that  love  Him  here  upon  earth 
are  to  Avander  about  as  orphans,  desolate  and  forsaken ; 
and  that  certainly  can  never  be.  So  that  we  have  to 
recognise  here  the  promise  of  a  coming  which  is  con- 
temporaneous with  His  absence,  and  which  is,  in  fact, 
but  the  reverse  side  of  His  bodily  absence. 

It  is  true  about  Him  that  He  *  departs  from '  His 
people  in  bodily  form  'for  a  season,  that  they  may 
receive  Him '  in  a  better  form  '  for  ever.'  This,  then,  is 
the  heart  and  centre  of  the  consolation  here,  that  how- 
soever the  external  presence  may  be  withdrawn,  and 
the   'foolish  senses'  may  have  to  speak  of  an  absent 


332  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

Christ,  we  may  rejoice  in  the  certainty  that  He  is  with 
all  those  that  love  Him,  and  all  the  more  with  them 
because  of  the  very  withdrawal  of  the  earthly  mani- 
festation which  has  served  its  purpose,  and  now  is  laid 
aside  as  an  impediment  rather  than  as  a  help  to  the 
full  communion.  We  confound  bodily  with  real.  The 
bodily  presence  is  at  an  end ;  the  real  presence  lasts  for 
ever. 

I  do  not  need  to  insist,  I  suppose,  upon  the  manifest 
implication  of  absolute  divinity  which  lies  in  such 
words  as  these.  '  I  come.'  '  Being  absent,  I  am  present 
in  all  generations.  I  am  present  with  every  single 
heart.'  That  is  equivalent  to  the  Omnipresence  of 
deity;  that  is  equivalent  to  or  implies  the  undying 
existence  of  the  divine  nature,  and  He  that  says, 
when  He  is  leaving  earth  and  withdrawing  the  sweet- 
ness of  His  visible  form  from  the  eyes  of  men,  '  I  come,' 
in  the  very  act  of  going,  '  and  I  am  with  you  always, 
with  all  of  you  to  the  end  of  the  ages,'  can  be  no  less 
than  God,  manifest  in  the  flesh  for  a  time,  and  present 
in  the  Spirit  with  His  children  for  ever. 

I  cannot  but  think  that  the  average  Christian  life 
of  this  day  wofully  fails  in  the  simple,  conscious 
realisation  of  this  great  truth,  and  that  we  are  all  far 
too  little  living  in  the  calm,  happy,  strengthening 
assurance  that  we  are  never  alone,  but  have  Jesus 
Christ  with  each  of  us  more  closely,  more  truly,  in  a 
more  available  fashion,  and  with  more  omnipotence  of 
influence,  than  they  had  who  were  nearest  Him  during 
the  days  that  He  lived  upon  earth. 

Oh,  brethren !  if  we  really  believed,  not  as  an  article  of 
our  creed  which  has  become  so  familiar  to  us  that  it 
produces  little  impression  upon  us,  but  as  a  vital  and 
ever-present  conviction  of  our  souls,  that  with  us  there 


vs.  18, 19]    ABSENT  PRESENT  CHRIST       333 

was  ever  the  real  presence  of  the  real  Christ,  how  all 
burdens  and  cares  would  be  lightened,  how  all  per- 
plexities would  begin  to  smooth  themselves  out  and 
be  straightened,  how  all  the  force  would  be  sucked  out  of 
temptations,  and  how  sorrows  and  joys  and  all  things 
would  be  changed  in  their  aspect  by  that  one  conviction 
intensely  realised  and  constantly  with  us !  A  present 
Christ  is  the  Strength,  the  Righteousness,  the  Peace, 
the  Joy,  and  as  we  shall  see,  in  the  most  literal  sense, 
the  Life  of  every  Christian  soul. 

Then,  note,  further,  that  this  coming  of  our  Lord  is 
identified  with  that  of  His  divine  Spirit.  He  has  been 
speaking  of  sending  that  '  other  Comforter,'  but  though 
He  be  Another,  He  is  yet  so  indissolubly  united  with 
Him  who  sends  as  that  the  coming  of  the  Spirit  is  the 
coming  of  Jesus.  He  is  no  gift  wafted  to  us  as  from 
the  other  side  of  a  gulf,  but  by  reason  of  the  unity  of 
the  Godhead  and  the  divinity  of  the  sent  Spirit,  Jesus 
Christ  and  the  Spirit  whom  He  sends  are  inseparable 
though  separate,  and  so  indissolubly  united  that  where 
the  Spirit  is,  there  is  Christ,  and  where  Christ  is,  there 
is  the  Spirit.  These  are  amongst  the  deep  things  which 
the  disciples  were  '  not  able  to  carry '  at  that  stage  of 
their  development,  and  which  waited  for  a  further 
explanation.  Enough  for  them  and  enough  for  us,  to 
know  that  we  have  Christ  in  the  Spirit  and  the  Spirit 
in  Christ ;  and  to  remember  '  that  if  any  man  have  not 
the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  His.' 

We  stand  here  on  the  margin  of  a  shoreless  and 
fathomless  sea ;  and  for  my  part  I  venture  to  think 
that  the  men  who  talk  about  the  incredibilities  and 
the  contradictions  of  the  orthodox  faith  would  show 
themselves  a  little  wiser  if  they  were  more  conscious 
of  the  limitation  of  human  faculty,  and  remembered 


334  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xiv. 

that  to  pronounce  upon  contradictions  in  the  doctrine 
of  the  divine  Nature  implies  that  the  pronouncer 
stands  above  and  goes  round  about  the  whole  of  that 
nature.  So,  for  my  part,  abjuring  omniscience  and  the 
comprehension  of  Deity,  I  accept  the  statement  that 
the  Father  and  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Spirit  come 
together  and  dwell  in  the  heart. 

Then,  note,  further,  that  this  present  Christ  is  the 
only  Remedy  for  the  orphanhood  of  the  world.  The 
words  had  a  tender  and  pathetic  reference  to  that 
little,  bewildered  group  of  followers,  deprived  of  their 
Guide,  their  Teacher,  and  their  Companion.  He  who 
had  been  as  eyes  to  their  weak  vision,  and  Counsellor 
and  Inspirer  and  everything  for  three  blessed  years, 
was  going  away  to  leave  them  unsheltered  to  the 
storm,  and  we  can  understand  how  forlorn  and 
terrified  they  were,  when  they  looked  forward  to 
fronting  the  things  that  must  come  to  them,  without 
His  presence.  Therefore  He  cheers  them  with  the 
assurance  that  they  will  not  be  left  without  Him,  but 
that,  present  still,  just  because  He  is  absent.  He  will  be 
all  that  He  ever  had  been  to  them. 

And  the  promise  was  fulfilled.  How  did  that  dis- 
spirited  group  of  cowardly  men  ever  pluck  up  courage 
to  hold  together  at  all  after  the  Crucifixion?  Why 
was  it  that  they  did  not  follow  the  example  of  John's 
disciples,  and  dissolve  and  disappear ;  and  say,  '  The 
game  is  up.  It  is  no  use  holding  together  any  longer '  ? 
The  process  of  separation  began  on  the  very  day  of 
the  Crucifixion.  Only  one  thing  could  have  stopped 
it,  and  that  is  the  Resurrection  and  the  presence  with 
His  Church  of  the  risen  Christ  in  His  power  and  in  all 
the  fullness  of  His  gifts.  If  it  had  not  been  that  He 
came  to  them,  they  would  have  disappeared,  and  Chris- 


vs.  18, 19]    ABSENT  PRESENT  CHRIST       335 

tianity  would  have  been  one  more  of  the  abortive  sects 
forgotten  in  Judaism.  But,  as  it  is,  the  whole  of  the 
New  Testament  after  Pentecost  is  aflame  with  the  con- 
sciousness of  a  present  Christ,  working  amongst  His 
people.  And  although  it  be  true  that,  in  one  aspect, 
we  are  absent  from  the  Lord  when  we  are  present 
with  the  body,  in  another  aspect,  and  an  infinitely 
higher  one,  it  is  true  that  the  strength  of  the  Christian 
life  of  Apostles  and  martyrs  was  this,  the  assurance 
that  Christ  Himself — no  mere  rhetorical  metaphor  for 
His  influence  or  His  example,  or  His  memory  lingering 
in  their  imaginations,  but  the  veritable  Christ  Himself 
— was  present  with  them,  to  strengthen  and  to  bless. 

That  same  conviction  you  and  I  must  have,  if  the 
world  is  not  to  be  a  desert  and  a  dreary  place  for  us. 
In  a  very  profound  sense  it  is  true  that  if  you  take 
away  Jesus  Christ,  the  elder  Brother,  who  alone  re- 
veals to  men  the  Father,  we  are  all  orphans,  fatherless 
children,  who  look  up  into  an  empty  heaven  and  see 
nothing  there.  It  is  only  Christ  who  reveals  to  us 
the  Father  and  makes  our  happy  hearts  feel  that  we 
are  of  His  children.  And  in  the  wider  sense  of  the 
word  '  orphans,'  is  not  life  a  desolation  without  Him  ? 
Hollow  joys,  fleeting  blessednesses,  roses  whose  thorns 
last  long  after  the  petals  have  dropped,  real  sorrows, 
shows  and  shams,  bitternesses  and  disappointments — 
are  not  these  our  life,  in  so  far  as  Christ  has  been 
driven  out  of  it?  Oh!  there  is  only  one  thing  that 
saves  us  from  being  as  desolate,  fatherless  children, 
groping  in  the  dark  for  the  lost  Father's  hand,  and 
dying  for  want  of  it,  and  that  is  that  the  Christ  Him- 
self shall  come  to  us  and  be  with  us. 

II.  The  unseen  Christ  is  a  seen  Christ. 

It  is  clear  that  the  period  referred  to  in  the  second 


836  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xtv. 

clause  of  our  text  is  the  same  as  that  referred  to  in  the 
first,  that '  yet  a  little  while '  covers  the  whole  space  up 
to  His  Ascension ;  and  that  if  there  be  any  reference 
at  all  to  the  forty  days  of  His  earthly  life,  during 
which  literally,  the  worlO  '  saw  Him  no  more,'  but  the 
Apostles  '  saw  Him,'  that  reference  is  only  secondary. 
These  transitory  appearances  are  not  of  sufficient 
moment  or  duration  to  bear  the  weight  of  so  great  a 
promise  as  this.  The  vision,  which  is  the  consequence 
of  the  coming,  has  the  same  extension  in  time  as  the 
coming — that  is  to  say,  it  is  continuous  and  permanent. 
We  must  read  here  the  great  promise  of  a  perpetual 
vision  of  the  present  Christ. 

It  is  clear,  too,  that  the  word  '  see '  is  employed  in  these 
two  clauses  in  two  different  senses.  In  the  former  it  refers 
only  to  bodily  sight,  in  the  latter  to  spiritual  perception. 
For  a  few  short  hours  still,  the  ungodly  mass  of  men  were 
to  have  that  outward  vision  which  might  have  been  so 
much  to  them,  but  which  they  had  used  so  badly  that 
'  they  seeing  saw  not.'  It  was  to  cease,  and  they  who 
loved  Him  would  not  miss  it  when  it  did ;  but  the  with- 
drawal which  hid  Him  from  sense  and  sense-bound 
souls  would  reveal  Him  more  clearly  to  His  friends. 
They,  too,  had  but  dimly  seen  Him  while  He  stood  by 
them ;  they  would  gaze  on  Him  with  truer  insight 
when  He  was  present  though  absent. 

So  this  is  what  every  Christian  life  may  and  should 
be — the  continual  sight  of  a  continually-present  Christ. 
It  is  His  part  to  come.  It  is  ours  to  see,  to  be  con- 
scious of  Him  who  does  come. 

Faith  is  the  sight  of  the  soul,  and  it  is  far  better  than 
the  sight  of  the  senses.  It  is  more  direct.  My  eye 
does  not  touch  what  I  look  at.  Gulfs  of  millions  of 
miles  may  lie  between  me  and  it.    But  my  faith  is  not 


vs.  18, 19]    ABSENT  PRESENT  CHRIST       337 

only  eye,  but  hand,  and  not  only  beholds,  but  grasps, 
and  comes  into  contact  with  that  to  which  it  is 
directed.  It  is  far  more  clear.  Sense  may  deceive; 
faith,  built  upon  His  Word,  cannot  deceive.  Its 
information  is  far  more  certain,  far  more  valid.  I 
have  better  reason  for  believing  in  Jesus  Christ  than 
I  have  for  believing  in  the  things  that  I  touch  and 
handle.  So  that  there  is  no  need  for  men  to  say,  '  Oh, 
if  we  had  only  seen  Him  with  our  eyes  ! '  You  would 
very  likely  not  have  known  Him  if  you  had.  There  is 
no  reason  for  thinking  that  the  Church  has  retro- 
graded in  its  privileges,  because  it  has  to  love  instead 
of  beholding,  and  to  believe  instead  of  touching.  That 
is  advance,  and  we  are  better  than  they,  inasmuch  as 
the  blessing  of  those  *  who  have  not  seen,  and  yet  have 
believed,'  comes  down  upon  our  heads.  The  vision  of 
Christ  which  is  granted  to  the  faithful  soul  is  better 
and  not  worse,  more  and  not  less,  other  in  kind  indeed, 
but  loftier  in  degree  too,  than  that  which  was  granted 
to  the  men  who  saw  Him  upon  earth.  Sense  disturbs, 
faith  alone  beholds, 

'The  world  seeth  Me  no  more.'  Why?  Because  it 
is  a  world.  '  Ye  see  Me.'  Why  ?  Because,  and  in  the 
measure  in  which  you  have  turned  away  your  eyes 
from  seeing  vanity.  If  you  want  the  eye  of  the  soul 
to  be  opened,  you  must  shut  the  eye  of  sense.  And 
the  more  we  turn  away  from  looking  at  the  dazzling 
lies  with  which  time  and  the  material  universe  befool 
and  bewilder  us,  the  more  shall  we  see  Him  whom  to 
see  is  to  live  for  ever. 

Oh,  brethren!  does  that  strong  word  'see'  in  any 
measure  express  the  vividness,  the  directness,  the  cer- 
tainty of  our  realisation  of  our  Master's  presence  ?  Is 
Jesus  Christ  as  clear,  as  perceptible,  as  sure  to  us  as 
VOL.  II.  Y 


ySS  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.xiv. 

the  men  round  us  are?  Which  are  the  shadows  and 
which  are  the  realities  to  us?  The  things  which  are 
seen,  which  the  senses  crown  as  'real,'  or  the  things 
which  cannot  be  seen  because  they  are  so  great,  and 
tower  above  us,  invisible  in  their  eternity?  Which 
world  are  our  eyes  most  open  to,  the  world  where 
Christ  is,  or  the  world  here  ?  Our  happy  eyes  may 
behold  and  our  blessed  hands  may  handle  the  Word 
of  Life  which  was  manifested  to  us.  Let  us  beware 
that  we  turn  not  away  from  the  one  thing  worthy  to 
be  looked  at,  to  gaze  upon  a  desolate  and  dreary  world. 

III.  Lastly,  the  present  and  seen  Christ  is  living  and 
life-giving. 

The  last  words  of  my  text  may  be  connected  with 
the  preceding,  as  the  marginal  rendering  of  the  Revised 
Version  shows.  But  it  is  probably  better  to  take  them 
as  standing  independently,  and  presenting  another  and 
co-ordinate  element  of  the  blessedness  arising  from  the 
coming  of  the  Christ.  Because  He  comes,  His  life 
passes  into  the  hearts  of  the  men  to  whom  He  comes, 
and  who  gaze  upon  Him. 

Time  forbids  me  to  dwell  upon  that  majestic  pro- 
clamation of  His  own  absolute  and  divine  life,  from 
lips  that  were  so  soon  to  be  paled  with  death.  Mark 
the  grand  'I  live' — the  timeless  present  tense,  which 
expresses  unbroken,  underived,  undying,  and,  as  I 
believe,  divine  life.  It  is  all  but  a  quotation  of  the 
great  Old  Testament  name  '  Jehovah.'  The  depth  and 
sweep  of  its  meaning  are  given  to  us  in  this  Apostle's 
Apocalypse,  where  Christ  is  called  'the  living  One,' 
who  lived  whilst  He  died,  and  having  died  '  is  alive  for 
evermore.' 

And  this  Christ,  coming  to  all  His  friends,  possessor 
of  the  fullness  of  life  in  Himself,  and  proclaiming  His 


vs.  18, 19]    ABSENT  PRESENT  CHRIST       S39 

absolute  possession  of  that  life,  even  whilst  He  stands 
within  arm's-length  of  Calvary,  is  Life-giver  to  all  that 
love  Him  and  trust  Him. 

We  live  because  He  lives.  In  all  senses  of  the  word 
*  life,'  as  I  believe,  the  life  of  men  is  derived  from  the 
Christ  who  is  the  Agent  of  creation,  the  channel  from 
whom  life  passes  from  the  Godhead  into  the  creatures, 
and  who  is  also  the  one  means  by  whom  any  of  us  can 
ever  hope  to  live  the  better  life  which  is  the  only  true 
one,  and  consists  in  fellowship  with  God  and  union  to 
Him. 

We  shall  live  as  long  as  He  lives,  and  His  being  is 
the  pledge  and  the  guarantee  of  the  immortal  being  of 
all  who  love  Him.  Anything  is  possible,  rather  than 
that  it  should  be  credible  that  a  soul,  which  has  drawn 
spiritual  life  from  Jesus  Christ  here  upon  earth,  should 
ever  be  rent  apart  from  Him  by  such  a  miserable  and 
external  trifle  as  the  mere  dissolution  of  the  bodily 
frame.  As  long  as  Christ  lives  our  life  is  secure.  If 
the  Head  has  life,  the  members  *  cannot  see  corruption.' 
'  Take  »ne  not  away  in  the  midst  of  my  days :  Thy  years 
are  throughout  all  generations*  was  the  prayer  of  a 
saint  of  old,  deeply  feeling  the  contrast  of  the  wor- 
shipper's transiency  and  God's  eternity,  and  dimly 
hoping  that  the  contrast  might  be  changed  into  like- 
ness. The  great  promise  of  our  text  answers  the 
prayer,  and  assures  us  that  the  worshipper  is  to  live 
as  long  as  does  He  whom  He  adores. 

We  shall  live  as  He  lives,  nor  ever  cease  the  appro- 
priation of  His  being  until  all  His  life  we  know,  and  all 
its  fullness  has  expanded  our  natures — and  that  will  be 
never.    Therefore  we  shall  not  die. 

Men's  lives  have  been  prolonged  by  the  transfusion 
of  blood  from  vigorous  frames.    Jesus  Christ  passes 


340  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

His  own  blood  into  our  veins  and  makes  us  immortal. 
The  Church  chose  for  one  of  its  ancient  emblems  of 
the  Saviour  the  pelican,  which  fed  its  young,  according 
to  the  fable,  with  blood  from  its  own  breast.  So  Christ 
vitalises  us.     He  in  us  is  our  Life. 

Brethren,  without  Jesus  Christ  we  are  orphans  in  a 
fatherless  world.  Without  Him,  our  wearied  and  yet 
unsatisfied  eyes  have  only  trifles  and  trials  and  trash 
to  look  at.  Without  Him,  we  are  *  dead  whilst  we  live.' 
He  and  He  only  can  give  us  back  a  Father,  and  renew 
in  us  the  spirit  of  sons.  He  and  only  He  can  satisfy 
our  eyes  with  the  sight  which  is  purity  and  restfulness 
and  joy.  He  and  He  only  can  breathe  life  into  our 
death.  Oh !  let  Him  do  it  for  you.  He  comes  to  us 
with  all  these  gifts  in  His  hands,  for  He  comes  to  give 
us  Himself,  and  in  Himself,  as  '  in  a  box  where  sweets 
compacted  lie,'  are  all  that  lonely  hearts  and  wearied 
eyes  and  dead  souls  can  ever  need.  All  are  yours  if 
you  are  Christ's.  All  are  yours  if  He  is  yours.  And 
He  is  yours  if  by  faith  and  love  you  make  yourself 
His  and  Him  your  own. 


THE  GIFTS  OF  THE  PRESENT  CHRIST 

*  At  that  day  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  in  My  Father,  and  ye  in  Me,  and  I  in  you. 
He  that  hath  My  commandments,  and  keepeth  them,  he  it  is  that  loveth  Me : 
and  he  that  loveth  Me  shall  be  loved  of  My  Father,  and  I  will  love  him,  and  will 
manifest  Myself  to  him.'— John  xiv.  20,  21. 

We  have  heard  our  Lord  in  the  previous  verse  unveil- 
ing His  deepest  and  strongest  encouragements  to  His 
downcast  followers.  These  were :  His  presence  with 
them,  their  true  sight  of  Him,  and  their  participation 
in  His  life.  The  first  part  of  our  present  text  is  closely 
connected  with  these,  for  it  gives  us  their  upshot  and 


vs.  20, 21]    GIFTS  OF  PRESENT  CHRIST    341 

consequence.  Because  Christ's  true  disciple  is  conscious 
of  Christ's  presence,  sees  Him  with  the  eyes  of  his 
spirit,  and  draws  life  from  Him,  therefore  he  will  know 
by  experience  the  deep  truths  of  Christ's  indwelling  at 
once  in  the  Father  and  in  His  servant,  and  of  His 
servant's  indwelling  in  Him.  Our  Lord  had  just  pre- 
viously been  exhorting  His  disciples  to  believe  that  He 
was  in  the  Father  and  the  Father  in  Him;  and  had 
been  gently  wondering  at  the  slowness  of  their  faith. 
Now  He  tells  them  that,  when  He  is  gone,  their  spiritual 
stature  will  be  so  increased  as  that  they  shall  know  the 
thing  which,  with  Him  by  their  side,  they  found  it  so 
hard  to  believe. 

The  second  part  of  our  present  text  is  the  close  of 
this  whole  section  of  our  Lord's  discourse,  and  in  it  He 
urges  the  requirement  of  practical  obedience,  as  the 
sign  and  test  of  love,  and  as  the  condition  of  receiving 
these  high  and  wonderful  things  of  which  He  has  been 
speaking.  He  has  been  unveiling  spiritual  blessings, 
which  may  seem  recondite  and  up  in  the  clouds,  and 
which,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  have  often  been  perverted 
into  dreamy  mysticisms  of  a  most  immoral  and  unprac- 
tical kind.  And  so  He  brings  us  sharp  back  again  here 
to  very  plain  truths,  and  would  teach  us  that  all  these 
lofty  and  ineffable  gifts  of  which  He  has  been  dimly 
speaking  are  to  be  reached  only  by  the  commonplace 
road  of  honest  obedience  and  simple  conformity  to  His 
commandments.  In  these  last  words  of  my  text,  He 
administers  the  antidote  and  the  check  to  the  possible 
abuses  of  the  great  things  which  He  has  been  saying. 

I.  Note,  then,  first,  the  knowledge  that  comes  with 
the  Christ  who  comes. 

'At  that  day'  covers  the  whole  period  of  which  He 
has  been  speaking,  between  His  withdrawal  from  the 


342  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

disciples  and  His  final  corporeal  coming  to  judgment 
— that  great  day  of  which  generations  are  hut  the 
moments.  In  it  the  men  who  love  Him  are  to  have 
His  presence,  His  vision,  His  life,  and  because  they 
have,  '  Ye  shall  know  that  I  am  in  My  Father,  and  ye 
in  Me,  and  I  in  you.'  The  principle  that  underlies  these 
wonderful  words  is  that  Christian  experience  is  the 
best  teacher  of  fundamental  Christian  truth.  Observe 
^th  what  decision,  and  with  what  strange  boldness, 
our  Lord  carries  that  principle  into  regions  where  we 
might  suppose  at  first  sight  that  it  was  altogether 
inapplicable.  '  Ye  shall  know  that  I  am  in  My  Father.' 
How  can  such  a  thing  as  the  relation  between  Christ 
and  God  ever  be  a  matter  of  consciousness  to  us  here 
upon  earth?  Must  it  not  always  be  a  truth  that  we 
must  take  on  trust  and  believe  because  we  have  been 
told  it,  without  having  any  verification  in  ourselves  ? 
Not  so;  remember  what  has  gone  before.  If  a  man 
has  the  consciousness  of  Christ's  presence  with  Him, 
sees  Him  with  the  true  inward  eye,  which  is  the  only 
real  organ  of  real  vision,  and  is  drawing  from  Him, 
moment  by  moment,  His  own  high  and  immortal  life, 
then  is  it  not  true  that  this  man's  experiences  are  of 
such  a  sort  as  to  be  utterly  inexplicable,  except  on  the 
ground  that  they  come  from  a  divine  source?  If  I 
have  these  experiences  I  know  that  it  is  Jesus  Christ  who 
gives  them,  and  I  know  that  He  could  not  give  them,  if 
He  did  not  dwell  in  God  and  were  not  divine.  These 
new  influ^ences,  this  revolution  in  my  being,  this  healing, 
constraining,  cleansing  touch,  these  calming,  gladden- 
ing, elevating  powers,  these  new  hopes,  these  reversed 
desires,  loving  all  to  which  I  was  formerly  indifferent, 
and  growing  dead  to  all  that  formerly  appealed  most 
strongly  to  me ;  all  these  things  bear  upon  their  very 


vs. 20, 21]    GIFTS  OF  PRESENT  CHRIST    343 

front  the  signature  that  they  are  wrought  by  a  divine 
hand,  and  as  sure  as  I  am  of  my  own  Christian  con- 
sciousness, so  sure  am  I  that  all  its  experiences  proclaim 
their  Author,  and  that  Christ  who  gives  me  them  is  in 
God.     '  Ye  shall  know  that  I  am  in  My  Father.' 

The  New  Testament,  as  I  read  it,  is  full  at  every 
point  of  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ;  and  many  pro- 
found and  learned  arguments  on  that  subject  have 
been  urged  by  theologians,  and  these  are  all  well  and 
needful  in  their  places,  but  the  true  way  to  be  sure 
of  it  is  to  have  Him  dwelling  with  us  and  working  in 
us ;  and  then  what  was  an  article  of  belief  becomes 
an  article  of  knowledge,  and  we  know  Him  to  be  our 
Saviour  and  the  Son  of  God. 

In  like  manner,  and  yet  more  obviously,  the  other 
elements  of  this  knowledge  which  Christ  promises  here 
may  be  shown  to  flow  naturally  and  necessarily  from 
Christian  experiences.  '  That  ye  are  in  Me,  and  I  in 
you,' — if  a  Christian  man  carries  the  consciousness 
of  Christ's  presence,  and  has  Him  as  a  Sun  in  his 
darkness,  and  as  a  Life-source  feeding  his  deadness 
with  life,  then  he  knows  with  a  consciousness  which 
is  irrefragable  that  Jesus  Christ  is  in  him,  for  he  feels 
Ilis  touch ;  and  he  knows  that  he  is  in  Christ,  for  he  is 
aware  of  the  power  that  girdles  him,  and  in  which  he 
has  peace  and  righteousness  and  all. 

So,  dear  brethren,  let  us  learn  what  the  Christian 
man's  experience  ought  to  be  and  to  do  for  him.  It 
should  change  the  articles  of  our  creed  into  elements 
of  our  consciousness.  It  should  make  all  the  funda- 
mentals of  the  Gospel  vitally  and  vividly  true ;  and 
certified  by  what  has  passed  within  our  own  spirits. 
We  should  be  able  to  say:  'We  have  the  witness  in 
ourselves.'    And  though  there  will  remain  much  that 


344  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

is  uncertain,  much  in  Christian  doctrine  which  is  not 
capable  of  that  clear  and  all-sufficing  verification ; 
much  about  which  we  must  still  depend  on  the  mere 
teaching  of  others,  or  on  our  own  study,  the  central 
facts  which  make  the  Gospel  may  all  become,  by  this 
plain  and  short  path,  elements  of  our  very  conscious- 
ness which  stand  undeniable  to  us,  whosoever  denies 
them. 

Such  a  direct  way  to  knowledge  is  reasonable,  is  in 
full  analogy  with  the  manner  by  which  we  attain  to 
the  knowledge  of  everything  except  the  mere  external 
facts,  the  knowledge  of  which  has  arrogated  to  itself 
the  exclusive  name  of  'science.'  How  do  you  know 
anything  about  love?  You  may  read  poems  and 
tragedies  to  the  end  of  time,  and  you  will  not  under- 
stand it  until  you  come  under  its  spell  for  yourself; 
and  then  all  the  things  that  men  said  about  it  cease  to 
be  mere  words,  because  you  yourself  have  experienced 
the  emotion. 

*  He  must  be  loved,  ere  that  to  you 
He  will  seem  worthy  of  your  love,' 

and  the  only  way  to  be  sure,  with  a  vital  certitude, 
of  Christ,  is  to  take  Christ  for  your  very  own,  and 
then  He  comes  into  your  very  being,  and  dwells  there 
quickening,  the  Sun  and  the  Life. 

So,  dear  brethren,  though  such  certitude  arising  from 
experience,  which  in  its  nature  is  the  very  highest,  is 
not  available  for  other  people,  the  fact  that  so  many 
millions  of  men  allege  that  in  varying  degrees  they 
possess  this  certitude  is  available  for  other  people, 
and  there  is  nothing  to  be  said  by  the  unbeliever  to 
this,  the  attestation  of  the  Christian  consciousness  to 
the  truth  of  the  truths  which  it  has  tried.    *  Whether 


vs.  20, 21]    GIFTS  OF  PRESENT  CHRIST    345 

this  man  be  a  sinner  or  no,  I  know  not.'  You  may 
jangle  as  much  as  you  like  about  the  questionable 
and  controversial  points  that  surround  the  Christian 
revelation.  I  do  not  care  in  the  present  connection 
what  answer  you  give  to  them.  '  Whether  this  man  be 
a  sinner  or  no,  I  know  not.  One  thing  I  know,  that 
whereas  I  was  blind,  now  I  see.'  And  we  may  push 
the  war  into  the  enemy's  quarters,  and  say:  'Why! 
herein  is  a  marvellous  thing,  that  you  that  know 
everything  do  not  know  whence  this  man  is,  and  yet 
He  has  opened  mine  eyes.  You  want  facts ;  there  are 
some.  You  want  verification;  we  have  verified  by 
experience,  and  we  set  to  our  seals  that  God  is 
true.' 

'  Oh  but,'  you  say,  *  this  is  not  a  fair  account  of  the 
way  in  which  Christian  men  and  women  generally  feel 
about  this  matter.'  Well,  all  that  I  can  say  about 
that  is,  so  much  the  worse  for  the  so-called  Christian 
men  and  women.  And  if  they  are  Christians,  and  do 
not  know  by  this  inward  experience  that  Christ  is 
divine  and  their  Saviour,  then  there  is  only  one  of  two 
reasons  to  be  given  for  it;  either  their  experience  is 
so  wretchedly  superficial  and  fragmentary,  so  rudi- 
mentary as  to  be  scarcely  worth  calling  by  the  name ; 
or,  having  the  facts,  they  have  failed  to  appreciate 
their  significance,  and  to  make  their  own  by  reflection 
the  certitudes  which  are  their  own. 

Brethren,  it  becomes  every  Christian  man  and 
woman  to  be  able  to  say,  *  Because  I  have  Christ  with 
me,  and  see  Him,  and  derive  my  life  from  Him,  I 
know  that  He  is  in  the  Father,  and  I  in  Him,  and  He 
in  me.'  And  if  you  cannot  say  that,  it  is  your  own  grasp 
of  Him,  or  your  meditation  upon  what  you  have  got 
by  your  grasp,  that  is  painfully  and  sinfully  defective. 


346  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

II.  My  text  speaks  of  the  obedience  whicli  is  the 
sign  and  test  of  love. 

The  words  here  are  substantially  equivalent  to 
former  words  in  the  chapter  which  we  have  already 
considered,  where  our  Lord  says :  '  If  ye  love  Me,  ye 
will  keep  My  commandments.' 

There  is,  however,  a  slight  difference  in  the  point  of 
view  in  the  two  sayings;  the  former  begins  with  the 
root  and  traces  it  upwards  and  outwards  to  its  fruits, 
love  blossoming  into  obedience.  Our  text  reverses  the 
process,  and  takes  the  thing  by  the  other  end ;  begins 
with  the  fruits  and  traces  them  downwards  and  in- 
wards to  the  root.  'He  that  hath  and  keepeth  My 
commandments,  he  it  is  that  loveth  Me.'  The  two 
sayings  substantially  mean  the  same  thing ;  but  in  the 
one  love  is  put  first  as  the  cause  of  obedience,  and  in 
the  other  obedience  is  put  first,  as  the  certain  fruit  and 
sure  sign  of  love.  The  connection  between  these  and 
the  preceding  words  is,  as  I  have  already  pointed  out, 
that  our  Lord  here  brings  all  His  lofty  promises  down 
to  the  sharp,  practical  requirement  of  obedience,  as  the 
only  condition  on  which  they  can  be  fulfilled. 

So  note,  and  very  briefly  about  this  matter,  how  re- 
markably our  Lord  here  declares  the  possession  of  His 
commandments  to  be  a  sign  of  love  to  Him.  '  He  that 
hath,'  a  word  which  is  generally  passed  over  in  our 
reading — 'He  that  hath  My  commandments,  He  it  is 
that  loveth  Me.'  Of  course  there  are  two  ways  of 
having  His  commandments ;  there  is  having  them  in 
the  Bible,  and  there  is  having  them  in  the  heart; — 
present  before  my  eye,  as  a  law  that  I  ought  to  obey, 
or  present  within  my  will,  as  a  power  that  shapes  it. 
And  the  latter  is  the  only  kind  of  '  having '  that  Christ 
regards  as  real  and  valid.    The  rest  is  only  preparatory 


Ts.20,21]    GIFTS  OF  PRESENT  CHRIST    347 

and  superficial.  Love  possesses  the  knowledge  of  the 
loved  one's  will.  Is  not  that  true?  Do  we  not  all 
know  how  strange  is  the  power  of  divining  desires  that 
goes  along  with  true  affection,  and  how  the  power,  not 
only  of  divining,  but  of  treasuring,  these  desires  is  the 
test  and  the  thermometer  of  our  true  love  ?  Some  of 
us,  perhaps,  keep  laid  away  in  sacred,  secret  places 
tattered,  yellow,  old  bits  of  paper  with  the  words  of 
a  dear  one  on  them,  that  we  would  not  part  with.  '  He 
that  hath  My  commandments'  laid  up  in  lavender  in 
the  deepest  recesses  of  his  faithful  heart,  he  it  is  *  that 
loveth  Me.' 

In  like  manner,  our  Lord  says,  the  practical  obedi- 
ence to  His  commandments  is  the  sure  sign  and  test  of 
love.  I  need  not  dwell  upon  that.  There  are  two 
motives  for  keeping  commandments — one  because  they 
are  commanded,  and  one  because  we  love  Him  that 
commands.  The  one  is  slavery,  the  other  is  liberty. 
The  one  is  like  the  Arctic  regions,  cold  and  barren,  the 
other  is  like  tropical  lands,  full  of  warmth  and  sun- 
shine, glorious  and  glad  fertility. 

The  form  of  the  sentence  suggests  how  easy  it  is  for 
people  to  delude  themselves  about  their  love  to  Jesus 
Christ.  That  emphatic  'he,'  and  the  putting  first  of 
the  character  before  its  root  is  pointed  out,  are  directed 
against  false  pretensions  to  love.  The  love  that  Christ 
stamps  with  His  hall-mark,  and  passes  as  genuine,  is  no 
mere  emotion,  however  passionate,  however  sweet ;  no 
mere  sentiment,  however  pure,  however  deep.  The 
tiniest  little  rivulet  that  drives  a  mill  is  better  than  a 
Niagara  that  rushes  and  foams  and  tumbles  idly. 
And  there  is  much  so-called  love  to  Jesus  Christ  that 
goes  masquerading  up  and  down  the  world,  from 
which  the  paint  is  stripped  by  the  sharp  application  of 


348  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

the  words  of  my  text.  Character  and  conduct  are  the 
true  demonstrations  of  Christian  love,  and  it  is  only- 
love  so  attested  that  He  accepts. 

III.  Lastly,  notice  the  further  and  sweeter  gifts  of 
divine  love  and  manifestation  which  reward  our  love 
and  obedience. 

'  He  that  loveth  Me  shall  be  loved  of  My  Father, 
and  I  will  love  him,  and  will  manifest  Myself  to  him.' 
Two  things,  then.  He  tells  us,  are  the  rich  rewards 
and  sparkling  crowns  with  which  He  crowns  our  poor 
love  to  Him — the  love  of  the  Father  and  the  love  of 
the  Christ,  separate  and  yet  united,  and  the  further 
manifestation  of  Christ's  sweetness  to  the  waiting 
heart. 

Note,  as  to  the  first,  the  extraordinary  boldness  of 
that  majestic  saying :  '  If  a  man  loves  Me,  My  Father  will 
love  him.'  God  regards  our  love  to  Jesus  Christ  as  the 
fulfilling  of  the  law,  as  equivalent  to  our  supreme  love 
to  Himself,  as  containing  in  it  the  germ  of  all  that 
is  pleasing  in  His  sight.  And  so,  upon  our  hearts,  if  we 
love  Christ,  there  falls  the  benediction  of  the  Father's 
love.  Of  course  I  need  not  remind  you  that  our  Lord  here 
is  not  beginning  at  the  very  beginning  of  everything ; 
for  prior  to  all  men's  love  to  Christ  is  Christ's  love  to 
men,  and  ours  to  Him  is  but  the  reflectipn  and  the 
echo  called  forth  by  His  to  us.  '  We  love  Him  because 
He  first  loved  us'  digs  a  story  deeper  down  in  the 
building  than  the  words  of  my  text,  which  is  speaking, 
not  of  the  process  by  which  a  man  comes  to  receive 
the  love  of  God  for  the  first  time,  but  of  the  process 
by  which  a  Christian  man  grows  in  his  possession  of 
it.  That  being  understood,  here  is  a  great  lesson.  It 
is  not  all  the  same  to  God  whether  a  man  is  a  scoundrel 
or  a  saint.    The  divine  love  is  over  all  its  works,  and 


vs.  20, 21]    GIFTS  OF  PRESENT  CHRIST    349 

embraces  every  variety  of  humanity,  the  most  de- 
graded, alien,  hostile.  But  in  this  generation,  as  it 
seems  to  mo,  there  is  great  need  for  preaching  that 
whilst  that  is  gloriously  and  blessedly  true,  the  other 
thing  is  just  as  true,  that  to  know  the  deepest  depth 
and  to  taste  the  sweetest  sweetness  of  the  love  of  our 
Father  God,  there  must  be  in  our  hearts  love  to  Him 
whom  He  has  sent,  which  manifests  itself  by  our 
obedience.  God's  love  is  a  moral  love ;  and  whilst  the 
sunbeams  play  ujDon  the  ice  and  melt  it  sometimes, 
they  flash  back  from,  and  rest  most  graciously  and 
fully  on,  the  rippling  stream  into  which  the  ice  has 
turned.  God  loves  them  that  love  Him  not,  but  the 
depths  of  His  heart  and  the  secret,  sacred  favours  of 
His  grace  can  only  be  bestowed  upon  those  who  in 
some  measure  are  conformed,  and  are  growingly  being 
conformed,  to  His  likeness  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  who 
love  Him  and  obey  Him. 

And,  in  like  manner,  my  text  tells  us  that  if  we 
wish  to  know  all  that  it  is  possible  for  us  here,  amidst 
the  clouds,  and  shadows,  and  darknesses,  to  know  of 
that  dear  Lord,  the  path  to  such  knowledge  is  plain. 
Walk  in  the  way  of  obedience,  and  Christ  will  meet 
you  with  the  unveiling  of  more  and  more  of  His  love. 
To  live  what  we  believe  is  the  sure  way  to  increase  its 
amount.  To  be  faithful  to  the  little  is  the  certain 
way  to  inherit  the  much.  And  Christ  manifests  Him- 
self, in  all  deep  and  recondite  sweetness,  gentleness, 
constraining  power,  to  the  men  who  treasure  the 
partial  knowledge  as  yet  possessed,  in  their  loving 
hearts  and  obedient  wills,  and  who  make  a  conscience 
of  translating  all  their  knowledge  into  conduct,  and  of 
basing  all  their  conduct  on  knowledge  of  Him.  He 
gives  us  His  whole  self  at  the  first,  but  we  traverse 


350  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

the  breadth  of  the  gift  by  degrees.  He  puts  Himself 
into  our  hands  and  into  our  hearts  when  we  humbly 
trust  Him  and  imperfectly  try  to  love  Him.  But  the 
flower  is  but  a  bud  when  we  get  it,  and,  as  we  hold  it, 
it  opens  its  petals  to  the  light. 

So,  if  'any  man  wills  to  do  His  will,  he  shall  know 
of  the  doctrine';  and  if,  touched  by  His  divine  love 
and  infinite  sacrifice  for  me,  I  cast  my  poor  self  upon 
Him,  and  try  to  love  Him  back  again,  and  to  keep 
His  commandments  because  I  love,  then  day  by  day 
I  shall  realise  more  and  more  of  His  strong,  immortal, 
all-satisfying  love,  and  see  more  and  more  deeply  into 
that  Saviour,  whose  infinite  beauties  remain  unrevealed 
after  all  revelation,  and  to  know  more  and  more  of 
whom  shall  be  the  Heaven  of  Heavens  yonder,  as  it 
is  the  joy  and  life  of  the  soul  here. 


WHO  BRING  CHRIST 

'  Judas  saith  unto  Him,  not  Iscariot,  Lord,  how  is  it  that  Thou  wilt  manifest  Thy- 
self unto  us.  and  not  unto  the  world?  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him,  If  a 
man  love  Me  he  wiU  keep  My  words  :  and  My  Father  will  love  him,  and  We  will 
come  unto  him,  and  make  Our  ahode  with  him.  He  that  loveth  Me  not,  keepeth 
not  My  sayings :  and  the  word  which  ye  hear  is  not  Mine,  but  the  Father's  which 
sent  Me.'— John  xiv.  22-24. 

This  Judas  held  but  a  low  place  amongst  the  Apostles. 
In  all  the  lists  he  is  one  of  the  last  of  the  groups  of  fours, 
into  which  they  are  divided,  and  which  were  evidently 
arranged  according  to  their  spiritual  nearness  to  the 
Master.  His  question  is  exactly  that  which  a  listener, 
with  some  dim,  confused  glimmer  of  Christ's  meaning, 
might  be  expected  to  ask.  He  grasps  at  His  last 
words  about  manifesting  Himself  to  certain  persons; 
he  rightly  feels  that  he  and  his  brethren  possess  the 
qualification  of  love.    He  rightly  understands  that  our 


vs.  22-24]        WHO  BRING  CHRIST  851 

Lord  contemplates  no  public  showing  of  Himself,  and 
that  disappoints  him.  It  was  only  a  day  or  two  ago 
that  Jesus  seemed  to  them  to  have  begun  to  do  what 
they  had  always  wanted  Him  to  do,  manifest  Himself 
to  the  world.  And  now,  as  he  thinks,  something  un- 
known to  them  must  have  happened  in  order  to  make 
Him  change  His  course,  and  go  back  to  the  old  plan 
of  a  secret  communication.  And  so  he  says,  'Lord! 
what  has  come  to  pass  to  induce  you  to  abandon  and 
falter  upon  the  course  on  which  we  entered,  when  you 
rode  into  Jerusalem  with  the  shouting  crowd  ?' 

His  question  is  no  better  in  intelligence,  though  it  is 
a  great  deal  better  in  spirit,  than  the  taunt  of  Christ's 
brethren,  '  If  Thou  do  these  things,  show  Thyself  to  the 
world.'  Judas,  too,  thought  of  the  simple  flashing  of 
His  Messianic  glory,  in  some  visible,  vulgar  form,  before 
else  blind  eyes. 

How  sad  and  chilling  such  a  question  must  have 
been  to  Jesus!  Slow  scholars  we  all  are;  and  with 
what  wonderful  patience,  without  a  word  of  pain,  or 
of  rebuke.  He  reiterates  His  lesson,  here  a  little  and 
there  a  little,  and  once  more  unfolds  the  conditions  of 
His  self-revelation,  and  the  fullness  of  the  blessings 
that  He  brings.  He  moulds  His  words  so  as  to  meet 
both  the  clauses  of  Judas's  foolish  question — 'To  us, 
not  to  the  world ' ;  and  quietly  tells  them  the  positive 
conditions  and  the  negative  disqualifications  for  His 
self-revelation.  So  my  text  deals  with  two  things, 
the  crown  of  loving  obedience  in  the  possession  of  a 
fuller  Christ,  and  the  impassable  barrier  to  His  mani- 
festation which  unloving  disobedience  makes.  Or  to 
put  it  into  briefer  words,  we  have  in  one  of  the  verses 
— first,  what  brings  Christ  and  what  Christ  brings; 
and,  in   the   other,   second,  what  keeps  away  Christ 


352  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

and  all  His  gifts.  Now  let  us  look  at  these  two 
things. 

I.  We  have  what  brings  Christ  and  what  Christ 
brings. 

'  If  a  man  love  Me,  He  will  keep  My  word '  (not 
'words,'  as  our  Authorised  Version  has  it),  'and  My 
Father  will  love  him,  and  We  will  come  unto  him,  and 
make  Our  abode  with  him.'  Now  notice  how  here,  in 
the  first  part  of  this  verse,  our  Lord  subtly  and  signifi- 
cantly alters  the  form  of  the  statement  which  He  has 
already  made.  He  had  formerly  said,  •  If  ye  love  Me, 
ye  will  keep  My  commandments,'  but  now  He  casts 
it  into  a  purely  impersonal  form,  and  says,  *  If  a  man,' 
anybody,  not  'you'  only,  but  anybody — 'If  a  man  love 
Me,  he,'  anybody, '  will  keep  My  word.'  And  why  the 
change  ?  Why,  I  suppose,  in  order  to  strike  full  and 
square  against  that  complacent  assumption  of  Judas 
that  it  was  '  to  us  and  not  to  the  world '  that  the  show- 
ing was  to  take  place.  Our  Lord,  by  the  studiously 
impersonal  form  into  which  He  casts  the  promise,  pro- 
claims its  universality,  and  says  this  to  His  ignorant 
questioner,  'Do  not  suppose  that  you  Apostles  have 
the  monopoly.  You  may  not  even  have  a  share  in  My 
self -manifestation.  Anybody  may  have  it.  And  there 
is  no  "  world,"  as  you  suppose,  to  which  I  do  not  show 
Myself.  Anybody  may  have  the  vision  if  he  observes 
the  conditions.' 

Now  I  need  not  dwell  at  any  length  upon  the  earlier 
words  of  this  text,  because  we  have  had  to  consider 
them  in  previous  sermons  on  the  former  verses  of  this 
chapter.  I  need  only  remark  that  here,  as  there,  our 
Lord  brings  out  the  thought  that  the  very  life-blood  of 
love  is  the  treasuring  of  the  word  of  the  beloved  One ; 
and  that  there  is  no  joy  comparable  to  the  joy  of  the 


vs.  22  24]        WHO  BRING  CHRIST  353 

loving  heart  that  yields  itself  to  the  Beloved's  will. 
That  is  true  about  earth,  and  it  makes  the  sweetest 
and  selectest  blessedness  of  our  ordinary  existence. 
And  it  is  true  about  heaven,  and  it  makes  the  liberty 
and  the  gladness  of  the  bond  that  knits  us  to  Him. 

But  I  would  like  just  to  notice,  before  I  come  to 
the  more  immediate  subject  of  my  discourse,  that 
remarkable  expression,  '  He  will  keep  My  word.'  That 
is  more  than  a  'commandment,'  is  it  not?  Christ's 
'word'  is  wider  than  'precept.  It  includes  all  His  say- 
ings, and  it  includes  them  all  as  in  one  vital  unity  and 
organic  whole.  We  are  not  to  go  picking  and  choosing 
among  them ;  they  are  one.  And  it  includes  this  other 
thought,  that  every  word  of  Christ,  be  it  revelation  of 
the  deep  things  of  God,  or  be  it  a  promise  of  the  great 
shower  of  blessings  which,  out  of  His  full  hand.  He 
will  drop  upon  our  heads,  enshrines  within  itself  a 
commandment.  He  utters  no  revelations,  simply  that 
we  may  know.  He  utters  no  comforting  words,  simply 
that  our  sore  hearts  may  be  healed,  but  in  all  His 
utterances  there  is  a  practical  bearing;  and  every 
word  of  His  teaching,  every  word  of  His  sweet, 
whispered  assurances  of  love  and  favour  to  the  wait- 
ing heart,  has  in  it  the  imperativeness  of  His  mani- 
fested will,  and  has  a  direct  bearing  upon  duty.  All 
His  icords  are  gathered  into  one  word,  and  all  the 
variety  of  His  sayings  is,  in  their  unity,  the  law  of 
our  lives.  So  much  by  way  of  observation  on  the 
mere  language  of  my  text.  And  now  let  us  look  at 
what,  as  He  says  to  us  here,  are  the  rewards  and 
crown  of  loving  obedience. 

Christ  will  show  Himself  to  the  loving  heart.  That 
is  true  on  the  very  lowest  level.  Every  act  of 
obedience  to  any  moral  truth  is  rewarded  by  additional 

VOL.  II.  z 


354  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

insight.  Every  act  of  submission  to  His  will  cleanses 
the  lenses  of  the  telescope  from  some  film  that  has 
gathered  upon  them,  and  so  the  stars  look  brighter 
and  larger  and  nearer.  All  duty  done  opens  out  into  a 
loftier  conception  of  duty,  and  a  clearer  vision  of  Him. 
'To  him  that  hath  shall  be  given.'  As  we  climb  the 
hill  we  get  a  wider  view.  Obedience  is  in  all  things 
the  parent  of  insight. 

But  in  reference  to  our  relation  to  Him,  we  have  to 
do  not  with  truths  only,  but  with  a  Person.  How  do 
we  learn  to  know  people?  There  is  only  one  way — 
that  is,  by  loving  them.  Sympathy  is  the  parent  of 
all  true  knowledge  of  one  another.  They  tell  us  in 
the  foolish  old  proverb  that  *  love  is  blind.'  No !  There 
is  not  such  a  pair  of  clear  eyes  anywhere  as  the  eyes 
of  love ;  and  if  we  want  to  see  into  a  man,  the  first 
condition  is  that  we  feel  kindly  towards  him.  Sym- 
pathy is  the  parent  of  insight  into  persons,  as  Obedience 
is  the  parent  of  insight  into  duty. 

But  both  of  these  illustrations  are  only  imperfect 
preparations  for  the  great  truth  here,  which  is  that 
our  loving  obedience  to  the  discerned  w^ill  of  Jesus 
Christ  has  not  only  an  operation  inwards  upon  us,  but 
has  an  effect  outwards  upon  Him.  I  am  afraid  that 
Christian  people  in  this  generation  have  but  a  very 
imperfect  belief  in  the  actual,  supernatural,  and,  if 
you  like  to  call  it  so,  miraculous  manifestation  of 
Jesus  Christ,  His  very  Self,  to  men  that  love  Him  and 
cleave  to  Him.  Do  you  believe  as  a  simple  revealed 
truth,  plain  as  a  sunbeam  in  such  words  as  these,  that 
Jesus  Christ  Himself  will  do  something  on  you,  and 
in  you,  and  for  you,  if  you  love  Him  and  trust  Him ; 
that  His  hand  will  be  laid  on  your  eyes  as  it  was  laid 
of  old;  that  He  will  indeed,  in  no  metaphor,  but  in 


vs.  22-24]        WHO  BRING  CHRIST  355 

reality,  show  Himself  to  you?  I  may  be  mistaken, 
but  I  think  that  too  commonly  it  is  the  case,  that 
even  good  Christian  people  have  a  far  more  vivid 
and  realising  and  real  faith  in  the  past  work  of  Christ 
on  earth  than  in  the  present  work  of  Christ  in  them- 
selves. They  think  the  one  a  plain  truth,  and  the 
other  something  like  a  metaphor,  whereas  the  New- 
Testament  teaches  us,  as  plainly  as  it  can  teach  us 
anything,  that,  far  above  all  the  natural  operations 
of  truth  upon  our  understandings,  hearts,  and  wills, 
there  is  an  actual,  supernatural,  continuous  communi- 
cation of  Christ  to  hearts  that  love  Him,  which 
leads  day  by  day,  if  they  be  faithful,  to  a  fuller  know- 
ledge, a  sweeter  love,  a  larger  possession,  of  a  fuller 
Christ.  And  it  is  this  that  He  tells  us  of,  to  fire  our 
ambition  to  attain,  in  such  words  as  these. 

Brethren,  one  piece  of  honest,  loving  obedience  is 
worth  all  the  study  and  speculation  of  an  unloving 
heart  when  the  question  is,  'How  are  we  to  see  Christ?' 

Again,  Jesus  shows  Himself  to  the  obedient  heart 
in  indissoluble  union  with  the  Father.  Look  at  the 
majesty,  and,  except  upon  one  hypothesis,  the  insane 
presumption,  of  such  words  as  these  :  *  If  a  man  love 
ilfe,  My  Father  will  love  him ' ;  as  if  identifying  love 
to  Christ  with  love  to  Himself.  And  look  at  that 
wondrous  union,  the  consciousness  of  which  speaks 
in  '  We  will  come.'  Think  of  a  man  saying  that.  It  is 
blasphemous  insanity ;  or  else  the  speech  of  Him  who 
is  conscious  of  union  with  the  Father,  close  and  in- 
dissoluble and  transcending  all  analogies.  '  We  will 
come,'  together,  hand-in-hand,  if  I  may  so  say;  or 
rather.  His  coming  is  the  Father's  coming.  Just  as 
in  heaven  so  closely  are  they  represented  as  united, 
that  there  is  but  one  throne  '  for  God  and  the  Lamb,' 


356  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

80  on  earth  so  closely  are  they  represented  as  united, 
that  there  is  but  one  coming  of  the  Father  in  the  Son. 

And  this  is  the  only  belief,  as  it  seems  to  me,  that 
will  keep  this  generation  from  despair  and  moral 
suicide.  The  question  for  this  generation  is,  Is  it 
possible  for  men  to  know  God  ?  Science,  both  of 
material  things  and  of  inward  experiences,  is  more 
and  more  unanimous  in  its  proclamation ;  '  Behold ! 
we  know  not  anything ' ;  and  the  only  attitude  to  take 
before  that  great  black  vault  above  us  is  to  say,  '  We 
know  nothing.'  The  world  has  learned  half  of  a  great 
verse  of  the  Gospel :  '  No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any 
time,  nor  can  see  Him.'  If  the  world  is  not  to  go  mad, 
if  hearts  are  not  to  be  tortured  into  despair,  if  morality 
and  enthusiasm  and  poetry  and  everything  higher 
and  nobler  than  the  knowledge  of  material  phenomena 
and  their  sequences  is  not  to  perish  from  the  earth,  the 
world  must  learn  the  next  half  of  the  verse,  and  say, 
'  The  only  begotten  Son  which  is  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Father,  He  hath  declared  Him.'  Christ  shows  Himself 
in  indissoluble  union  with  the  Father. 

Lastly  about  this  matter,  Christ  shows  Himself  to 
obedient  love  by  a  true  coming.  'We  will  come  and 
make  our  mansion  with  him.'  And  that  coming  is  a 
fact  of  a  higher  order,  and  not  to  be  confounded  either 
with  the  mere  divine  Omnipresence,  by  which  God  is 
everywhere,  nor  to  be  reduced  to  a  figment  of  our  own 
imaginations,  or  a  strong  way  of  promising  increased 
perception  on  our  part  of  Christ's  fullness.  That  great 
central  Sun,  if  I  might  use  so  violent  a  figure,  draws 
nearer  and  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  planets  that  move 
about  it,  and  having  once  been  far  off  on  an  almost 
infinitely  distant  horizon,  approaches  until  planet  and 
Sun  unite. 


vs.  22-24]        WHO  BRING  CHRIST  857 

Dear  brethren,  if  we  could  only  get  to  the  attitude 
of  simple  acceptance  of  this  as  a  literal  truth,  and 
believe  that,  in  prose  reality,  Christ  comes  to  every 
heart  that  loves  Him,  would  not  all  the  world  be 
different  to  us  ? 

That  coming  is  a  permanent  residence:  'We  will 
make  our  abode  with  him.'  Very  beautiful  is  it  to 
notice  that  our  Lord  here  employs  that  same  sweet 
and  significant  word,  with  which  He  began  this  wonder- 
ful series  of  encouragements,  when  He  said,  'In  My 
Father's  house  are  many  mansions'  Yonder  they 
dwell  for  ever  with  God ;  here  God  in  Christ  for  ever 
dwells  with  the  loving  heart.  It  is  a  permanent  abode 
so  long  as  the  conditions  are  fulfilled,  but  only  so  long. 
If  self-will,  rising  in  the  Christian  heart  from  its  torpor 
and  apparent  death,  reasserts  itself  and  shakes  off 
Christ's  yoke,  Christ's  presence  vanishes.  In  the  last 
hours  of  the  Holy  City  there  was  heard  by  the  trem- 
bling priests  amidst  the  midnight  darkness  the  motion 
of  departing  Deity,  and  a  great  voice  said:  'Let  us 
depart  hence ';  and  to-morrow  the  shrine  was  empty, 
and  the  day  after  it  was  in  flames.  Brethren,  if  you 
would  keep  the  Christ  in  whom  is  God,  remember  that 
He  cannot  be  kept  but  by  the  act  of  loving  obedience. 

II.  Now,  in  the  next  place,  my  text  gives  us  the 
negative  side,  and  shows  us  what  keeps  away  Christ 
and  all  His  blessings. 

An  unloving  disobedience  closes  the  eyes  to  the 
vision,  and  the  heart  against  the  entrance,  of  that 
dear  Lord.  Our  Master  lays  down  for  us  two  prin- 
ciples, and  leaves  us  to  draw  the  conclusion  for  ourselves. 

The  first  is,  'He  that  lovetli  Me  not,  keepeth  not 
My  sayings.'  No  love,  no  obedience.  That  is  plainly 
true,  because  the  heart  of  all  the  commandments  is 


358  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.  xiv. 

love,  and  where  that  is  not,  disohedience  to  their 
very  spirit  is.  It  is  plainly  true,  because  there 
is  no  power  that  will  lead  men  to  true  obedience 
to  Christ's  yoke  except  the  power  of  love.  His 
commandments  are  too  alien  from  our  nature  ever 
to  be  kept,  unless  by  the  might  of  love.  It  was  only 
the  rising  sunbeam  that  could  draw  music  from  the 
stony  lips  of  Memnon,  as  he  gazed  out  across  the 
desert,  and  it  is  only  when  Christ's  love  shines  on 
our  faces  that  we  open  our  lips  in  praise,  and  move  our 
hands  in  service.  Those  great  rocking-stones  down 
in  Cornwall  stand  unmoved  by  any  tempest,  but  a 
child's  finger,  laid  on  the  right  place,  will  set  them 
vibrating.  And  so  the  heavy,  hard,  stony  bulk  of  our 
hearts  lies  torpid  and  immovable,  until  He  lays  His 
loving  finger  upon  them,  and  then  they  rock  at  His 
will.  There  is  no  keeping  of  Christ's  commandments 
without  love.  That  makes  short  work  of  a  great  deal 
that  calls  itself  Christianity,  does  it  not?  Reluctant 
obedience  is  no  obedience ;  self-interested  obedience  is 
no  obedience;  constrained  obedience  is  no  obedience; 
outward  acts  of  service,  if  the  heart  be  wanting, 
are  rubbish  and  dung.  Morality  without  religion  is 
nought.  The  one  thing  that  makes  a  good  man  is 
love  to  Jesus  Christ;  and  where  that  is,  there,  and 
only  there,  is  obedience. 

'  Talk  they  of  morals  ?    O  Thou  Bleeding  Lamb  1 
The  grand  morality  is  love  of  Thee.' 

'  If  a  man  love  Me  not,  he  will  not  keep  My  words.' 

Then  the  second  principle  is,  disobedience  to  Christ 
is  disobedience  to  God.  '  The  Word  which  ye  hear  is 
not  Mine,  but  the  Father's.'  Christ's  consciousness  of 
union  so  speaks  out  here  as  that  He  is  quite  sure  that 


VS.22-24J        WHO  BRING  CHRIST  859 

all  His  words  are  God's  words,  and  that  all  God's  words 
are  spoken  by  Him.  Paul  has  to  say,  '  So  speak  I, 
not  the  Lord.'  And  you  would  not  think  a  man  a 
very  sound  or  safe  religious  teacher  who  said  to  you, 
to  begin  with,  '  Now,  mind,  everything  that  I  say,  God 
says.'  There  are  no  errors  then,  no  deterioration  of 
the  treasure  by  the  vessel  in  which  it  lies.  The  water 
does  not  taste  of  the  vase  in  which  it  is  carried. 
The  personality  of  Jesus  Christ  is  never,  through  all 
His  utterances,  so  separated  from  God  but  that  God 
speaks  in  Him ;  and,  listening  to  His  voice,  we  hear 
the  absolute  utterance  of  the  uncreated  and  eternal 
Wisdom. 

Therefore  follows  the  conclusion,  which  our  Lord 
does  not  state,  but  leaves  us  to  supply.  If  it  be  true 
that  the  absence  of  love  of  Him  is  disobedience  to 
Him,  and  if  it  be  true  that  disobedience  to  Him  is 
disobedience  to  God,  then  it  plainly  follows  that  what 
keeps  away  Christ  and  all  His  gifts,  and  God  in 
Him,  is  unloving  obedience.  What  brings  Him  is  the 
obedience  of  love ;  what  repels  Him  is  alienation  and 
rebellion.  If  the  heart  be  full  of  confusion,  of  the 
world,  of  self,  of  unbridled  inclinations,  of  careless 
indifference  to  His  bleeding  love.  He  '  can  but  listen 
at  the  gate  and  hear  the  household  jar  within.' 

And  so,  dear  friends,  from  all  this  there  follow  one 
or  two  points,  which  I  touch  very  briefly.  One  is,  that 
it  is  possible  for  men  not  to  see  Christ,  though  He 
stands  there  close  before  them.  It  is  possible  to  grope 
at  noonday  as  at  midnight,  to  see  only  'bracken  green 
and  cold  grey  stone '  on  the  hillside,  where  another 
man  sees  the  chariots  of  fire  and  the  horses  of  fire. 
It  is  possible  for  you — and,  alas  !  it  is  the  condition  of 
some  of  my  hearers — to  look  upon  Christ  and  to  turn 


360  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.xiv. 

away  and  say,  '  I  see  no  beauty  in  Him  that  I  should 
desire  Him,'  whilst  the  man  beside  you,  looking  at  the 
same  facts  and  the  same  face,  can  see  in  Him  tte 
•  Chief  among  ten  thousand,  and  the  altogether  lovely.' 

Another  thought  is,  that  Christ's  showing  of  Himself 
to  men  is  in  no  sense  arbitrary.  It  is  you  that  deter- 
mine what  you  shall  see.  You  can  hermetically  seal 
your  heart  against  Him,  you  can  blind  yourself  to  all 
His  beauty.  The  door  of  your  hearts  is  hinged  to  open 
from  within,  and  if  you  do  not  open  it,  it  remains  shtlt, 
and  Christ  remains  outside. 

Another  thought  is,  that  you  do  not  need  to  do 
anything  to  blind  yourselves.  Simple  negation  is 
fatal.  '  If  a  man  love  not ' ;  that  is  all.  The  absence  of 
love  is  your  ruin. 

And  the  last  thought  is  this,  that  my  text  does  not 
begin  at  the  beginning.  Jesus  Christ  has  been  speak- 
ing about  manifestations  of  Himself  to  the  loving  and 
obedient;  but  there  are  manifestations  of  Himself 
made  that  we  may  become  loving  and  obedient.  You 
can  build  a  barrier  over  which  these  sweeter  revela- 
tions, of  which  loyal  love  and  docile  submission  are 
the  conditions,  cannot  rise.  But  you  cannot  build  a 
barrier  over  which  the  prior  revelations  to  the  un- 
thankful and  disobedient  cannot  rise.  No  mountains 
of  sin  and  neglect  and  alienation  can  be  piled  so  high 
but  that  the  flood  of  pardoning  grace  will  rise  above 
their  crests,  and  pour  itself  into  your  hearts.  You  ask, 
How  can  I  get  the  love  and  obedience  of  which  you 
have  been  singing  the  praises  now  ?  There  is  only  one 
answer,  brethren.  We  know  that  we  love  Him  when 
we  know  that  He  loves  us;  and  we  know  that  He 
loves  us  when  we  see  Him  dying  on  His  Cross.  So 
here  is  the  ladder,  that  is  planted  in  the  miry  clay 


vs.  22-24]      THE  TEACHER  SPIRIT  861 

of  the  horrible  pit,  and  fastens  its  golden  hooks  on 
His  throne.  The  first  round  is,  Behold  the  dying 
Christ  and  His  love  to  me.  The  second  is,  Let  that 
love  melt  my  heart  into  sweet  responsive  love.  The 
third  is,  Let  my  love  mould  my  life  into  obedience. 
And  then  Christ,  and  God  in  Him,  will  come  to  me  and 
show  Himself  to  me ;  and  give  me  a  fuller  knowledge 
and  a  deeper  love,  and  make  His  dwelling  with  me. 
And  then  there  is  only  one  round  still  to  reach,  and 
that  will  land  us  by  the  Throne  of  God,  in  the  many 
mansions  of  the  Father's  house,  where  we  shall  make 
our  abode  with  Him  for  evermore. 


THE  TEACHER  SPIRIT 

'These  things  have  I  spoken  unto  you,  being  yet  present  with  you.  But  the 
Comforter,  which  is  the  Holy  Ghost,  whom  the  Father  will  send  in  My  name,  He 
shall  teach  you  all  things,  and  bring  all  things  to  your  remembrance,  whatsoever 
I  have  said  unto  you.'— John  xiv.  25,  26. 

This  wonderful  outpouring  of  consolation  and  instruc- 
tion with  which  our  Lord  sought  to  soothe  the  pain  of 
parting  is  nearing  its  end.  We  have  to  conceive  of  a 
slight  pause  here,  whilst  He  looks  back  upon  what  He 
has  been  saying  and  contrasts  His  teaching  with  that 
of  the  Comforter,  whom  He  has  once  already,  though 
in  a  different  connection,  promised  to  His  followers. 
He  speaks  of  His  earthly  residence  with  them  as  being 
*an  abiding,'  distinctly  therein  referring  to  what  He 
has  just  said,  that  the  Father  and  He  will,  in  the 
future,  *  make  their  abode '  with  His  disciples.  He  con- 
trasts the  outward  and  transitory  presence  which  was 
now  nearing  its  end,  with  the  inward  and  continuous 
presence,  which  its  end  was  to  inaugurate. 

And,  in  like  manner,  with,  at  first   sight,  startling 


362  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

humility,  He  contrasts  'these  things,'  the  partial  and 
to  a  large  extent  unintelligible  utterances  which  He 
had  given  with  His  human  lips,  with  the  complete, 
universal  teaching  of  that  divine  Spirit,  who  was  to 
instruct  in  'all  things'  pertaining  to  man's  salvation. 
We  have  then,  here,  sketched  in  broad  outline,  the 
great  truths  concerning  the  ever-present,  inward 
Teacher  of  God's  Church  who  is  to  come,  now  that 
the  earthly  manifestation  of  Christ,  whom  the  twelve 
called  their  'Teacher,'  had  reached  a  close.  I  think 
we  may  best  gain  the  deep  instruction  which  lies  in 
the  words  before  us,  if  we  look  at  three  points  of  view 
which  they  bring  into  prominence :  the  Teacher,  His 
lesson,  and  His  scholars. 

I.  Now,  as  to  the  first,  the  promised  Teacher. 

I  need  not  repeat  what  I  have  said  in  former 
sermons  as  to  the  wide  sweep  of  that  word  '  the  Com- 
forter,' beyond  just  reminding  you  that  it  means 
literally  one  who  is  called  to  the  side  of  another, 
primarily  for  the  purpose  of  being  his  representative 
in  some  legal  process;  and,  more  widely,  for  any 
purpose  of  help,  encouragement,  and  strength.  That 
being  so,  '  Comforter,'  in  its  modern  sense  of  Consoler, 
is  far  too  narrow  for  the  full  force  of  the  word,  which 
means  much  rather  'Comforter,'  in  its  ancient  and 
etymological  sense  of  one  who,  in  company  with 
another,  makes  Him  strong  and  brave. 

But  the  point  to  which  I  desire  to  turn  attention 
now  is  this,  that  this  comforting  and  strengthening 
office  of  the  divine  Spirit  is  brought  into  immediate 
connection  here  with  the  conception  of  Him  as  a 
Teacher.  That  is  to  say,  the  best  strength  that  God, 
by  His  Spirit,  can  give  us  is  by  our  firm  grasp  and 
growing    clearness    of    understanding    of   the    truths 


vs.  25, 26]      THE  TEACHER  SPIRIT  363 

which  are  wrapped  up  in  Jesus  Christ.  All  power  for 
endurance,  for  service,  is  there,  and  when  the  Spirit  of 
God  teaches  a  man  what  God  reveals  in  Christ,  He 
therein  and  thereby  most  fully  discharges  His  office  of 
Strengthener, 

Then  note  still  further  the  other  designation  of 
this  divine  Teacher  which  is  here  given :  '  The  Com- 
forter, which  is  the  Holy  Ghost.'  We  might  have 
expected,  as  indeed  we  find  in  another  context  in 
this  great  final  discourse,  the  '  Spirit  of  Truth '  as 
appropriate  in  connection  with  the  office  of  teach- 
ing. But  is  there  not  a  profound  lesson  for  us 
here  in  this,  that,  side  by  side  with  the  thought  of 
illumination,  there  lies  the  thought  of  purity  built 
upon  consecration,  which  is  the  Scripture  definition 
of  holiness?  That  suggests  that  there  is  an  indis- 
soluble connection  between  the  real  knowledge  of 
God's  truth  and  practical  holiness  of  life.  That  con- 
nection is  of  a  double  sort.  There  is  no  holiness  with- 
out such  knowledge,  and  there  is  no  such  knowledge 
without  holiness. 

There  is  no  real  knowledge  of  Christ  and  His  truth 
without  purity  of  heart.  The  man  who  has  no  music  in 
his  soul  can  never  be  brought  to  understand  the  deep 
harmonies  of  the  great  masters  and  magicians  of 
sound.  The  man  who  has  no  eye  for  beauty  can 
never  be  brought  to  bow  his  spirit  before  some  of 
those  embodiments  of  loveliness  and  sublimity  which 
the  painter's  brush  has  cast  upon  the  canvas.  And 
the  man  who  has  no  longings  after  purity,  nor  has 
attained  to  any  degree  of  moral  conformity  with  the 
divine  image,  is  not  in  possession  of  the  sense  which 
is  needed  in  order  that  he  should  understand  the  *  deep 
things  of  God.' 


364.  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

The  scholars  in  this  school  have  to  wash  their  hands 
before  they  go  to  school,  and  come  there  with  clean 
hands  and  clean  hearts.  Foulness  and  the  love  of  it 
are  bars  to  all  understanding  of  God's  truth.  And,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  truest  inducements,  motives,  and 
powers  for  purity  are  found  in  that  great  word  which 
is  all  'according  to  godliness,'  and  is  meant  much 
rather  to  make  us  good  than  to  make  us  wise. 

So,  in  this  designation  of  the  teaching  Spirit  as 
holy,  there  lie  lessons  for  two  classes  of  people.  All 
fanatical  professions  of  possessing  divine  illumination, 
which  are  not  warranted  and  sealed  by  purity  of  life, 
are  lies  or  self-delusion.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  cold- 
blooded intellectualism  will  never  force  the  locks  of 
the  palace  of  divine  truth,  but  they  that  come  there 
must  have  clean  hands  and  a  pure  heart;  and  only 
those  who  have  the  love  and  the  longing  for  goodness 
will  be  wise  scholars  in  Christ's  school.  Your  theology 
is  nothing  unless  its  distinct  outcome  is  morality, 
and  you  must  be  prepared  to  accept  the  painful,  the 
punitive,  the  purifying  influences  of  that  divine  Spirit 
on  your  moral  natures  if  you  want  to  have  His 
enlightening  influences  shining  on  the  'truth  as  it  is 
in  Jesus.'  'If  any  man  wills  to  do  His  will,  he,'  and 
only  he, '  shall  know  of  the  doctrine.'  Knowledge  and 
holiness  are  as  inseparable  in  divine  things  as  light 
and  heat. 

And  still  further  note  that  this  great  Teacher  is 
•  sent  by  God '  in  Christ's  name.  That  pregnant  phrase, 
'  In  My  name,'  cannot  be  represented  by  any  one  form 
of  expression  into  which  we  may  translate  it,  but 
covers  a  larger  space.  God  in  Christ's  name  sends  the 
Spirit.  That  is  to  say,  in  some  deep  sense  God  acts  as 
Christ's  representative;  just  as  Christ  comes  in  the 


vs.  25, 26]      THE  TEACHER  SPIRIT  365 

Father's  name  and  acts  as  His  representative.  And, 
again,  God  sends  in  Christ's  name;  that  is,  the  his- 
torical manifestation  of  Christ  is  the  basis  on  which 
the  sending  of  the  Spirit  is  possible  and  rests.  The 
revelation  had  to  be  complete  before  He  who  came  to 
unfold  the  meaning  of  the  revelation  had  material  to 
work  upon.  The  Spirit,  which  is  sent  in  Christ's  name, 
has,  for  the  basis  of  His  mission,  and  the  means  by 
which  He  acts,  the  recorded  facts  of  Christ's  life  and 
death,  these  and  none  other. 

And  then  note  finally  about  this  matter,  the  strong 
and  unmistakable  declaration  here,  that  that  divine 
Spirit  is  a  person:  'He  shall  teach  you  all  things.' 
They  tell  us  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  is  not  in 
the  New  Testament.  The  word  is  not,  but  the  thing  is. 
In  this  verse  we  have  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the 
Spirit  brought  into  such  close  and  indissoluble  union 
as  is  only  vindicated  from  the  charge  of  blasphemy  by 
the  belief  in  the  divinity  of  each.  Just  as  the  Apostolic 
benediction,  '  The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
the  love  of  God  the  Father,  and  the  communion  of  the 
Holy  Spirit'  necessarily  involves  the  divinity  of  all 
who  are  thus  invoked,  so  we  stand  here  in  the  presence 
of  a  truth  which  pierces  into  the  deeps  of  Deity. 
That  divine  Spirit  is  more  than  an  influence.  'He 
shall  teach,'  and  He  can  be  grieved  by  evil  and  sin.  I 
do  not  enlarge  upon  these  thoughts.  My  purpose  is 
mainly  to  bring  them  out  clearly  before  you. 

II.  I  pass  in  the  second  place  to  the  consideration  of 
the  Lesson  which  this  promised  Teacher  gives. 

Mark  the  words,  *  He  shall  teach  you  all  things,  and 
bring  all  things  to  your  remembrance,  whatsoever  / 
have  said  unto  you.'  Now  as  we  have  seen  in  the 
exposition   of   the    words  'in    My   name,'  the  whole 


366  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

subject-matter  of  the  divine  Spirit's  teaching  is  the 
life  and  work  and  death  and  person  of  Jesus  Christ. 
'  He  shall  teach  you  all  things '  is  wider  than  *  He  shall 
bring  all  things  which  I  have  said  to  you  to  your  re- 
membrance.' But  whilst  that  is  so,  the  clear  implica- 
tion of  the  words  before  us  is  that  Christ  is  the  lesson 
book,  of  which  the  divine  Spirit  is  the  Teacher.  His 
weapon,  to  take  another  metaphor,  with  which  He 
plies  men's  hearts  and  minds  and  wills,  convincing  the 
world  of  sin  and  of  righteousness  and  of  judgment, 
and  leading  those  who  are  convinced  into  deeper 
knowledge  and  larger  wisdom,  is  the  recorded  facts 
concerning  the  life  and  manifestation  of  Jesus  Christ. 
The  significance  of  this  lesson  book,  the  history  of 
our  Lord,  cannot  be  unfolded  all  at  once.  There  is 
something  altogether  unique  in  the  incorruption  and 
germinant  power  of  all  His  deeds  and  of  all  His  words. 
This  Carpenter  of  Nazareth  has  reached  the  heights 
which  the  greatest  thinkers  and  poets  of  the  past 
have  never  reached,  or  only  in  little  snatches  and 
fragments  of  their  words.  His  words  open  out,  gene- 
ration after  generation,  into  undreamed-of  wisdom, 
and  there  are  found  to  be  hived  in  them  stores  of 
sweetness  that  were  never  suspected  until  the  occa- 
sion came  that  drew  them  forth.  The  world  and  the 
Church  received  Christ,  as  it  were,  in  the  dark;  and, 
as  with  some  man  receiving  a  precious  gift  as  the 
morning  was  dawning,  each  fresh  moment  revealed, 
as  the  light  grew,  new  beauties  and  new  preciousness 
in  the  thing  possessed.  So  Christ,  in  His  infinite 
significance,  fresh  and  new  for  all  generations,  was 
given  at  first,  and  ever  since  the  Church  and  the 
world  have  been  learning  the  meaning  of  the  gift 
which  they  received.    Christ's  words  are  inexhaustible, 


vs.  25, 26]      THE  TEACHER  SPIRIT  367 

and  the  Spirit's  teaching  is  to  unveil  more  and  more 
of  the  infinite  significance  that  lies  in  the  apparently- 
least  significant  of  them. 

Novp^,  then,  note  that  if  this  be  our  Lord's  meaning 
here,  Jesus  Christ  plainly  anticipated  that,  after  His 
departure  from  earth,  there  should  be  a  development 
of  Christian  doctrine.  We  are  often  taunted  vv^ith  the 
fact,  v^hich  is  exaggerated  for  the  purpose  of  contro- 
versy, that  a  clear  and  full  statement  of  the  central 
truths  which  orthodox  Christianity  holds,  is  found 
rather  in  the  Apostolic  epistles  than  in  the  Master's 
words,  and  the  shallow  axiom  is  often  quoted  with 
great  approbation  :  '  Jesus  Christ  is  our  Master,  and 
not  Paul.'  I  do  not  grant  that  the  germs  and  the 
central  truths  of  the  Gospel  are  not  to  be  found  in 
Christ's  words,  but  I  admit  that  the  full,  articulate 
statement  of  them  is  to  be  found  rather  in  the  servant's 
letters,  and  I  say  that  that  is  exactly  what  Jesus 
Christ  told  us  to  expect,  that  after  He  was  gone,  words 
that  had  been  all  obscure,  and  thoughts  that  had  been 
only  fragmentarily  intelligible,  would  come  to  be  seen 
clearly,  and  would  be  discerned  for  what  they  were. 
The  earlier  disciples  had  only  a  very  partial  grasp 
of  Christ's  nature.  They  knew  next  to  nothing  of  the 
great  doctrine  of  sacrifice ;  they  knew  nothing  about 
His  resurrection ;  they  did  not  in  the  least  understand 
that  He  was  going  back  to  heaven ;  they  had  but 
glimmering  conceptions  of  the  spirituality  or  univer- 
sality of  His  Kingdom.  Whilst  they  were  listening  to 
Him  at  that  table  they  did  not  believe  in  the  atone- 
ment ;  but  they  dimly  believed  in  the  divinity  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  they  did  not  believe  in  His  resurrection ;  they 
did  not  believe  in  His  ascension ;  they  did  not  believe 
that  He  was  founding  a  spiritual  kingdom,  a  kingdom 


368  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

that  was  to  rule  over  all  the  world  till  the  end  of  time. 
None  of  these  truths  were  in  their  mind.  They  had 
all  been  in  germ  in  His  words.  And  after  He  was  gone, 
there  came  over  them  a  breath  of  the  teaching  Spirit, 
and  the  unintelligible  flashed  up  into  significance.  The 
history  of  the  Church  is  the  proof  of  the  truth  of  this 
promise,  and  if  anybody  says  to  me,  'Where  is  the 
fulfilment  of  the  promise  of  a  Spirit  that  will  bring 
all  things  to  your  remembrance  ? '  I  say — here  in  this 
Book!  These  four  Gospels,  these  Apostolic  Epistles, 
show  that  the  word  which  our  Lord  here  speaks  has 
been  gloriously  fulfilled.  Christ  anticipated  a  develop- 
ment of  doctrine,  and  it  casts  no  slur  or  suspicion  on 
the  truthfulness  of  the  apostolic  representation  of  the 
Christian  truths,  that  they  are  only  sparsely  and  frag- 
mentarily  to  be  found  in  the  records  of  Christ's  life. 

Then  there  is  another  practical  conclusion  from  the 
words  before  us,  on  which  I  touch  for  a  moment,  and 
that  is,  that  if  Jesus  Christ  and  the  deep  understanding 
of  Him  be  the  true  lesson  of  the  divine,  teaching  Spirit, 
then  real  progress  consists,  not  in  getting  beyond 
Christ,  but  in  getting  more  fully  into  Him.  We  hear 
a  great  deal  in  these  days  about  advanced  thought  and 
progressive  Christianity.  I  hope  I  believe  in  the  con- 
tinuous advance  of  Christian  thought  as  joyfully  as 
any  man,  but  my  notion  of  it— and  I  humbly  venture  to 
say  Christ's  notion  of  it — is  to  get  more  and  more  into 
His  heart,  and  to  find  within  Him,  and  not  away  from 
Him, '  all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge.'  We 
leave  all  other  great  men  behind.  All  other  teachers' 
words  become  feeble  by  age,  as  their  persons  become 
ghostly,  wrapped  in  thickening  folds  of  oblivion;  but 
the  progress  of  the  Church  consists  in  absorbing  more 
and  more  of  Christ,  in  understanding  Him  better,  and 


vs.  25, 26]      THE  TEACHER  SPIRIT  869 

becoming  more  and  more  moulded  by  His  influence. 
The  Spirit's  teaching  brings  out  the  ever  fresh  signifi- 
cance of  the  ancient  and  perpetual  revelation  of  God  in 
Jesus  Christ. 

III.  And  now,  lastly,  note  the  Scholars. 

Primarily,  of  course,  these  are  the  Apostolic  group ; 
but  the  Apostles,  in  all  these  discourses,  stand  as  the 
representatives  of  the  Church,  and  not  as  separated 
from  it.  And  w^hilst  the  teaching  Spirit  could  'bring 
to  the  remembrance'  of  those  only  who  first  heard 
them  '  the  words  that  He  said  unto  them,'  that  Spirit's 
teaching  function  is  not  limited  to  those  who  listened 
to  the  Lord  Jesus.  The  fire  that  was  kindled  on 
Pentecost  has  not  died  down  into  grey  ashes,  nor  the 
river  that  then  broke  forth  been  sucked  up  by  thirsty 
sands  of  successive  generations,  but  the  fire  is  still  with 
us,  and  the  river  still  flows  near  our  lips,  and  we,  too, 
may  be  taught  by  that  divine  Spirit.  For  this  very 
Evangelist,  in  writing  his  Epistle,  has  at  least  two 
distinct  references  to,  and  almost  verbal  quotations  of, 
this  promise,  when  he  says,  addressing  all  his  Asiatic 
brethren,  'Ye  have  an  unction  from  the  Holy  One, 
and  know  all  things.'  And  again,  '  The  unction  which 
ye  have  of  Him  abideth  with  you,  and  ye  need  not  that 
any  man  should  teach  you.' 

So,  then,  Christian  men  and  women,  every  believing 
soul  has  this  divine  Spirit  for  His  Teacher,  and  the 
humblest  of  us  may,  if  we  will,  learn  of  Him  and  be  led 
by  Him  into  prof  ounder  knowledge  of  that  great  Lord. 

Oh !  dear  brethren,  the  belief  in  the  actual  presence 
with  the  Church  of  a  Spirit  that  teaches  all  faithful 
members  thereof,  is  far  too  much  hesitatingly  held  by 
the  common  Christianity  of  this  day.  We  ought  to 
bo  the  standing  witnesses  in  the  world  of  the  reality 
VOL.  II.  2  A 


370  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

of  a  supernatural  influence,  and  how  can  we  be,  if 
we  do  not  believe  it  ourselves,  and  never  feel  that  we 
are  under  it  ? 

But  whilst  a  continuous  inspiration  from  that  self- 
same Spirit  is  the  prerogative  of  all  believing  souls,  let 
us  not  forget  that  the  early  teaching  is  the  standard  by 
which  all  such  must  be  tried.  As  to  the  first  disciples 
the  office  of  the  divine  Spirit  was  to  bring  before 
them  the  deep  significance  of  their  Master's  life  and 
words,  so  to  us  the  office  of  the  teaching  Spirit  is  to 
bring  to  our  minds  the  deep  significance  of  the  record 
by  these  earliest  scholars  of  what  they  learned  from 
Him.  The  authority  of  the  New  Testament  over  our 
faith  is  based  upon  these  words,  and  Paul's  warning 
applies  especially  to  this  generation,  with  its  thoughts 
about  a  continuous  inspiration  and  outgrowing  of  the 
New  Testament  teaching :  '  If  a  man  think  himself  to 
be  spiritual,  let  him  acknowledge  that  the  things  that 
I  write  unto  you  are  the  commandments  of  the 
Lord.' 

Now  from  all  this  take  three  counsels.  Let  this 
great  promise  fill  us  with  shame.  Look  at  Christen- 
dom. Does  it  not  contradict  such  words  as  these? 
Disputatious  sects.  Christians  scarcely  agreed  upon 
any  one  of  the  great  central  doctrines,  seem  a  strange 
fulfilment.  The  present  condition  of  Christendom  does 
not  prove  that  Jesus  Christ  did  not  send  the  Spirit, 
but  it  does  prove  that  Christ's  followers  have  been 
wofully  remiss  and  negligent  in  their  acceptance  and 
use  of  the  Spirit.  What  slow  scholars  we  are!  How 
little  we  have  learnt !  How  we  have  let  passion,  pre- 
judice, human  voices,  the  babble  of  men's  tongues, 
anybody  and  everybody,  take  the  office  of  teaching  us 
God's  truth,  instead  of  waiting  before  Him  and  letting 


vs.  25, 26]      THE  TEACHER  SPIRIT  871 

His  Spirit  teach  us !  It  is  the  shame  of  us  Christians 
that,  with  such  a  Teacher,  we,  '  when  for  the  time  we 
ought  to  be  teachers,  have  need  that  one  teach  us 
again  which  be  the  first  principles  of  the  oracles  of 
Christ!' 

Let  it  fill  us  with  desire  and  with  diligence.  Let  it 
fill  us  with  calm  hope.  They  tell  us  that  Christianity- 
is  effete.  Have  we  got  all  out  of  Jesus  Christ  that  is 
in  Him  ?  Is  the  process  that  has  been  going  on  for  all 
these  centuries  to  stop  now  ?  No !  Depend  upon  it  that 
the  new  problems  of  this  generation  will  find  their  solu- 
tion where  the  old  problems  of  past  generations  have 
found  theirs,  and  the  old  commandment  of  the  old 
Christ  will  be  the  new  commandment  of  the  new  Christ. 

Foolish  men,  both  on  the  Christian  and  on  the  anti- 
Christian  side,  stand  and  point  to  the  western  sky  and 
say,  'The  Sun  is  setting.'  But  there  is  a  flush  in  the 
opposite  horizon  in  an  hour,  as  at  midsummer;  and 
that  which  sank  in  the  west  rises  fresh  and  bright  in 
the  east  for  a  new  day.  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Christ  for 
all  the  ages  and  for  every  soul,  and  the  world  will  only 
learn  more  and  more  of  His  inexhaustible  fullness.  So 
let  us  be  ever  quiet,  patient,  hopeful  amidst  the  babble 
of  tongues  and  the  surges  of  controversy,  assured  that 
all  change  will  but  make  more  plain  the  inexhaustible 
significance  of  the  infinite  Christ,  and  that  humble  and 
obedient  hearts  will  ever  possess  the  promised  Teacher, 
nor  ever  cry  in  vain,  '  Teach  me  to  do  Thy  will,  for 
Thou  art  my  God.  Thy  Spirit  is  good,  lead  me  into  the 
land  of  uprightness.* 


CHRIST'S  PEACE 

'Peace  I  leave  with  you.  My  peace  1  give  unto  you :  not  as  the  world  giveth, 
give  I  unto  you.  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,  neither  let  it  be  afraid.'— 
John  xiv.  27. 

'  Peace  be  unto  you ! '  was,  and  is,  the  common  Eastern 
salutation,  both  in  meeting  and  in  parting.  It  carries 
us  back  to  a  state  of  society  in  which  every  stranger 
might  be  an  enemy.  It  is  a  confession  of  the  deep 
unrest  of  the  human  heart.  Christ  was  about  closing 
His  discourse,  and  the  common  word  of  leave-taking 
came  naturally  to  His  lips ;  just  as  when  He  first  met 
His  followers  after  the  Resurrection,  He  soothed  their 
fears  by  the  calm  and  familiar  greeting,  '  Peace  be 
unto  you ! '  But  common  words  deepen  their  force  and 
meaning  when  He  uses  them.  In  Him  'all  things 
become  new,'  and  on  His  lips  the  conventional  thread- 
bare salutation  changes  into  a  tender  and  mysterious 
communication  of  a  real  gift.  His  words  are  deeds, 
and  His  wishes  for  His  disciples  fulfil  themselves. 

I.  So  we  have  here,  first,  the  greeting,  which  is  a 
gift. 

*  Peace  I  leave  with  you.  My  peace  I  give  unto  you.' 
We  have  seen,  in  former  discourses  on  this  chapter, 
how  prominently  and  repeatedly  our  Lord  insists  on 
the  great  truth  of  His  dwelling  with  and  in  His 
disciples.  He  gives  His  peace  because  He  gives  Him- 
self; and  in  the  bestowal  of  His  life  He  bestows,  in 
so  far  as  we  possess  the  gift,  the  qualities  and  attri- 
butes of  that  life.  His  peace  is  inseparable  from  His 
presence.  It  comes  with  Him,  like  an  atmosphere;  it 
is  never  where  He  is  not.  It  was  His  peace  inasmuch 
as,  in  His  own  experience,  He  possessed  it.    His  man- 

372 


V.27]  CHRIST'S  PEACE  373 

hood  was  untroubled  by  perturbation  or  tumult,  by 
passions  or  contending  desires,  and  no  outward  things 
could  break  His  calm.  If  we  open  our  hearts  by  lowly 
faith,  love,  and  aspiration  for  His  entrance,  we  too 
may  be  at  rest ;  for  His  peace,  like  all  which  He  is  and 
has,  is  His  that  it  may  be  ours. 

The  first  requisite  for  peace  is  consciousness  of  har- 
monious and  loving  relations  between  me  and  God. 
The  deepest  secret  of  Christ's  peace  was  His  unbroken 
consciousness  of  unbroken  communion  with  the 
Father,  in  which  His  will  submitted  and  the  whole 
being  of  the  man  hung  in  filial  dependence  upon  God. 
And  the  centre  and  foundation  of  all  the  peace-giving 
power  of  Jesus  Christ  is  this,  that  in  His  death,  by 
His  one  offering  for  sin  for  ever,  He  has  swept  away 
the  occasion  of  antagonism,  and  so  made  peace 
between  the  twain,  the  Father  in  the  heavens  and  the 
child,  rebellious  and  prodigal,  here  below.  Little  as 
these  disciples  dreamed  of  it,  the  death  impending, 
which  was  already  beginning  to  cast  its  shadow  over 
their  souls,  was  the  condition  of  securing  to  them  and 
to  us  the  true  beginning  of  all  real  peace,  the 
rectifying  of  our  antagonistic  relation  to  God,  and  the 
bringing  Him  and  us  into  perfect  concord. 

My  brother,  no  man  can  be  at  rest  down  to  the  very 
roots  of  His  being,  in  the  absence  of  the  consciousness 
that  he  is  at  peace  with  God.  There  may  be  tumults 
of  gladness,  there  may  be  much  of  stormy  brightness 
in  the  life,  but  there  cannot  be  the  calm,  still,  impreg- 
nable, all-pervading,  and  central  tranquillity  that  our 
souls  hunger  for,  unless  we  know  and  feel  that  we  are 
right  with  God,  and  that  there  is  nothing  between  us 
and  Him.  And  it  is  because  Jesus  Christ,  dying  on  the 
Cross,  has  made  it  possible  for  you  and  me  to  feel  this, 


374  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.xiv. 

that  He  is  our  peace,  and  that  He  can  say,  'Peace  I 
leave  with  you.' 

Another  requisite  is  that  we  must  be  at  peace  with 
ourselves.  There  must  be  no  stinging  conscience, 
there  must  be  no  unsatisfied  desires,  there  must  be  no 
inner  schism  between  inclination  and  duty,  reason  and 
will,  passion  and  judgment.  There  must  be  the  quiet 
of  a  harmonised  nature  which  has  one  object,  one  aim, 
one  love;  which — to  use  a  very  vulgar  phrase — has 
'all  its  eggs  in  one  basket,'  and  has  no  contradic- 
tions running  through  its  inmost  self.  There  is  only 
one  way  to  get  that  peace — cleaving  to  Jesus  Christ 
and  making  Him  our  Lord,  our  righteousness,  our  aim, 
our  all.  Your  consciences  will  sting,  and  that  destroys 
peace ;  or  if  they  do  not  sting,  they  will  be  torpid,  and 
that  destroys  peace,  for  death  is  not  peace.  Unless  we 
take  Christ  for  our  love,  for  the  light  of  our  minds,  for 
the  Sovereign  Arbiter  and  Lord  of  our  will,  for  the 
home  of  our  desires,  for  the  aim  of  our  efforts,  we 
shall  never  know  what  it  is  to  be  at  rest.  Unsatisfied 
and  hungry  we  shall  go  through  life,  seeking  what 
nothing  short  of  an  Infinite  Humanity  can  ever  give 
us,  and  that  is  a  heart  to  lean  our  heads  upon,  an 
adequate  object  for  all  our  faculties,  and  so  a  quiet 
satisfaction  of  all  our  desires.  'Wherefore  do  ye 
spend  your  money  for  that  which  is  not  bread?'  A 
question  that  no  man  can  answer  without  convicting 
himself  of  folly !  There  is  One,  and  only  One,  who  is 
enough  for  me,  poor  and  weak  and  lowly  and  fleeting 
as  I  am,  and  as  my  earthly  life  is.  Take  that  One  for 
your  Treasure,  and  you  are  rich  indeed.  The  world 
without  Christ  is  nought.  Christ  without  the  world 
is  enough. 

Nor  is  there  any  other  way  of  healing  the  inner 


T.27]  CHRIST'S  PEACE  875 

discord,  schism,  and  contradiction  of  our  anarchic 
nature,  except  in  bringing  it  all  into  submission  to 
His  merciful  rule.  Look  at  that  troubled  kingdom 
that  each  of  us  carries  about  within  himself,  passion 
dragging  this  way,  conscience  that,  a  hundred  desires 
all  arrayed  against  one  another,  inclination  here,  duty 
there,  till  we  are  torn  in  pieces  like  a  man  drawn 
asunder  by  wild  horses.  And  what  is  to  be  done  with 
all  that  rebellious  self,  over  which  the  poor  soul  rules 
as  it  may,  and  rules  so  poorly  ?  Oh !  there  is  an  inner 
unrest,  the  necessary  fate  of  every  man  who  does  not 
take  Christ  for  his  King.  But  when  He  enters  the 
heart  with  His  silken  leash,  the  old  fable  comes  true, 
and  He  binds  the  lions  and  the  ravenous  beasts  there 
with  its  slender  tie  and  leads  them  along,  tamed,  by 
the  cord  of  love,  and  all  harnessed  to  pull  together 
in  the  chariot  that  He  guides.  There  is  only  one  way 
for  a  man  to  be  at  peace  with  himself  through  and 
through,  and  that  is  that  he  should  put  the  guidance 
of  his  life  into  the  hands  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  let  Him 
do  with  it  as  He  will.  There  is  one  power,  and  only 
one,  that  can  draw  after  it  all  the  multitudinous 
heaped  waters  of  the  weltering  ocean,  and  that  is 
the  quiet,  silver  moon  in  the  heavens  that  pulls  the 
tidal  wave,  into  which  melt  and  merge  all  currents 
and  small  breakers,  and  rolls  it  round  the  whole  earth. 
And  so  Christ,  shining  down  lambent,  and  gentle,  but 
changeless,  from  the  darkest  of  our  skies,  will  draw, 
in  one  great  surge  of  harmonised  motion,  all  the  else 
contradictory  currents  of  our  stormy  souls.  '  My  peace 
I  give  unto  you.' 

Another  element  in  true  tranquillity,  which  again 
is  supplied  only  by  Jesus  Christ,  is  peace  with  men. 
'Whence    come    wars    and    fightings    amongst   you? 


376  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.xiv. 

From  your  lusts.'  Or  to  translate  the  old-fashioned 
phraseology  into  modern  English,  the  reason  why  men 
are  in  antagonism  with  one  another  is  the  central 
selfishness  of  each,  and  there  is  only  one  way  by 
which  men's  relations  can  be  thoroughly  sweetened, 
and  that  is,  by  the  divine  love  of  Jesus  Christ  pouring 
into  their  hearts,  and  casting  out  the  devil  of  selfish- 
ness, and  so  blending  them  all  into  one  harmonious 
whole. 

The  one  basis  of  true,  happy  relations  between  man 
and  man,  without  which  there  is  not  the  all-round 
tranquillity  that  we  require,  lies  in  the  common  rela- 
tion of  all,  if  it  may  be,  but  certainly  in  the  individual 
relation  of  myself,  to  Him  who  is  the  Lover  and  the 
Friend  of  all.  And  in  the  measure  in  which  the  law  of 
the  Spirit  of  life  which  was  in  Jesus  Christ  is  in  me, 
in  that  measure  do  I  find  it  possible  to  reproduce  His 
gentleness,  sympathy,  compassion,  insight  into  men's 
sorrows,  patience  with  men's  offences,  and  all  which 
makes,  in  our  relations  to  one  another,  the  harmony 
and  the  happiness  of  humanity. 

Another  of  the  elements  or  aspects  of  peace  is  peace 
with  the  outer  world.  *  It  is  hard  to  kick  against  the 
pricks,'  but  if  you  do  not  kick  against  them,  they  will 
not  prick  you.  We  beat  ourselves  all  bruised  and 
bleeding  against  the  bars  of  the  prison-house  in  trying 
to  escape  from  it,  but  if  we  do  not  beat  ourselves 
against  them,  they  will  not  hurt  us.  If  we  do  not  want 
to  get  out  of  prison,  it  does  not  matter  though  we  are 
locked  in.  And  so  it  is  not  external  calamities,  but  the 
resistance  of  the  will  to  these,  that  makes  the  disturb- 
ances of  life.  Submission  is  peace,  and  when  a  man 
with  Christ  in  his  heart  can  say  what  Christ  said,  '  Not 
My  will,  but  Thine  be  done,'  Oh !  then,  some  faint 


V.27]  CHRIST'S  PEACE  377 

beginnings,  at  least,  of  tranquillity  come  to  the  most 
agitated  and  buffeted ;  and  even  in  the  depths  of  our 
sorrow  we  may  have  a  deeper  depth  of  calm.  If  we 
have  yielded  ourselves  to  the  Father's  will,  through 
that  dear  Son  who  has  set  the  example  and  communi- 
cates the  power  of  filial  obedience,  then  all  winds 
blow  us  to  our  haven,  and  all  'things  work  together 
for  good,'  and  nothing  'that  is  at  enmity  with  joy' 
can  shake  our  settled  peace.  Storms  may  break  upon 
the  rocky  shore  of  our  islanded  lives,  but  deep  in 
the  centre  there  will  be  a  secluded,  inland  dell 
•  which  heareth  not  the  loud  winds  when  they  call,'  and 
where  no  tempest  can  ever  reach.  Peace  may  be  ours 
in  the  midst  of  warfare  and  of  storms,  for  Christ 
with  us  reconciles  us  to  God,  harmonises  us  with 
ourselves,  brings  us  into  amity  with  men,  and  makes 
the  world  all  good. 

II.  So,  secondly,  note  here  the  world's  gift,  which  is 
an  illusion. 

•  Not  as  the  world  giveth,  give  I  unto  you.'  Our  Lord 
contrasts,  as  it  seems  to  me,  primarily  the  manner  of 
the  world's  bestowment,  and  then  passes  insensibly 
into  a  contrast  between  the  character  of  the  world's 
gifts  and  His  own.  That  phrase  'the  world'  may 
have  a  double  sense.  It  may  mean  either  mankind  in 
general  or  the  whole  external  and  material  frame  of 
things.  I  think  we  may  use  both  significations  in 
elucidating  the  words  before  us. 

Regarding  it  in  the  former  of  them,  the  thought  is 
suggested — Christ  gives ;  men  can  only  wish.  '  Peace 
be  unto  you '  comes  from  many  a  lip,  and  is  addressed 
to  many  an  ear,  unfulfilled.  Christ  says  'peace,'  and 
His  word  is  a  conveyance.  How  little  we  can  do  for 
one  another's  tranquillity,  how  soon  we  come  to  the 


378  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

limits  of  human  love  and  human  help!  How  awful 
and  impassable  is  the  isolation  in  which  each  human 
soul  lives!  After  all  love  and  fellowship  we  dwell 
alone  on  our  little  island  in  the  deep,  separated  by 
'the  salt,  unplumbed,  estranging  sea,'  and  we  can  do 
little  more  than  hoist  signals  of  goodwill,  and  now 
and  then  for  a  moment  stretch  our  hands  across  the 
'echoing  straits  between.'  But  it  is  little  after  all 
that  husband  or  wife  can  do  for  one  another's  central 
peace,  little  that  the  dearest  friend  can  give.  We  have 
to  depend  upon  ourselves  and  upon  Christ  for  peace. 
That  which  the  world  wishes  Christ  gives. 

And  then,  if  we  take  the  other  signification  of  the 

•  world,'  and  the  other  application  of  the  whole 
promise,  we  may  say — Outward  things  can  give  a 
man  no  real  peace.  The  world  is  for  excitement ; 
Christ  alone  has  the  secret  of  tranquillity.  It  is  as  if 
to  a  man  in  a  fever  a  physician  should  come  and  say : 

•  I  cannot  give  you  anything  to  soothe  you ;  here  is  a 
glass  of  brandy  for  you.'  That  would  not  help  the 
fever,  would  it  ?  The  world  comes  to  us  and  says :  '  I 
cannot  give  you  rest :  here  is  a  sharp  excitement  for 
you,  more  highly  spiced  and  titillating  for  your  tongue 
than  the  last  one,  which  has  turned  flat  and  stale.' 
That  is  about  the  best  that  it  can  do. 

Oh!  what  a  confession  of  unrest  are  the  rush  and 
recklessness,  the  fever  and  the  fret  of  our  modern  life 
with  its  ever  renewed  and  ever  disappointed  quest  after 
good !  You  go  about  our  streets  and  look  men  in  the 
face,  and  you  see  how  all  manner  of  hungry  desires  and 
eager  wishes  have  imprinted  themselves  there.  And 
now  and  then — how  seldom ! — you  come  across  a  face 
out  of  which  beams  a  deep  and  settled  peace.  How 
many  of  you  are  there  who  dare  not  be  quiet  because 


V.27]  CHRIST'S  PEACE  379 

then  you  are  most  troubled?  How  many  of  you  are 
there  who  dare  not  reflect  because  then  you  are 
wretched?  How  many  of  you  are  uncomfortable 
when  alone,  either  because  you  are  utterly  vacuous,  or 
because  then  you  are  surrounded  by  the  ghosts  of  ugly 
thoughts  that  murder  sleep  and  stuff  every  pillow  with 
thorns  ?  The  world  will  bring  you  excitement ;  Christ, 
and  Christ  alone  will  bring  you  rest. 

The  peace  that  earth  gives  is  a  poor  affair  at  best. 
It  is  shallow ;  a  very  thin  plating  over  a  depth  of  rest- 
lessness, like  some  skin  of  turf  on  a  volcano,  where  a 
foot  below  the  surface  sulphurous  fumes  roll,  and 
hellish  turbulence  seethes.  That  is  the  kind  of  rest 
that  the  world  brings. 

Oh !  dear  friends,  there  is  nothing  in  this  world  that 
will  fill  and  satisfy  your  hearts  except  only  Jesus 
Christ.  The  world  is  for  excitement ;  and  Christ  is  the 
only  real  Giver  of  real  peace. 

III.  Lastly,  note  the  duty  of  the  recipients  of  that 
peace  of  Christ's :  '  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled, 
neither  let  it  be  afraid.' 

The  words  that  introduced  this  great  discourse 
return  again  at  its  close,  somewhat  enlarged  and 
with  a  deepened  soothing  and  tenderness.  There  are 
two  things  referred  to  as  the  source  of  restlessness, 
troubled  agitation  or  disturbance  of  heart ;  and  that 
mainly,  I  suppose,  because  of  terror  in  the  outlook 
towards  a  dim  and  unknown  future.  The  disciples  are 
warned  to  fight  against  these  if  they  would  keep  the 
gift  of  peace. 

That  is  to  say,  casting  the  exhortation  into  a  more 
general  expression,  Christ's  gift  of  peace  does  not 
dispense  with  the  necessity  for  our  own  effort  after 
tranquillity.     There  is  much  in  the  outer  world  that 


380  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

will  disturb  us  to  the  very  end,  and  there  is  much 
within  ourselves  that  will  surge  up  and  seek  to  shake 
our  repose  and  break  our  peace ;  and  we  have  to 
coerce  and  keep  down  the  temptations  to  anxiety, 
the  temptations  to  undue  agitation  of  desire,  the 
temptations  to  tumults  of  sorrow,  the  temptations  to 
cowardly  fears  of  the  unknown  future.  All  these  will 
continue,  even  though  we  have  Christ's  peace  in  our 
hearts,  and  it  is  for  us  to  see  to  it  that  we  treasure 
the  peace,  *  and  in  everything  by  prayer  and  supplica- 
tion with  thanksgiving  let  our  requests  be  made 
known  unto  God,'  that  nothing  may  break  the  calm 
which  we  possess. 

So,  then,  another  thought  arises  from  this  final  ex- 
hortation, and  that  is,  that  it  is  useless  to  tell  a  man, 
•Do  not  be  troubled,  and  do  not  be  afraid,'  unless  he 
first  has  Christ's  peace  as  his.  Is  that  peace  yours, 
my  brother,  because  Jesus  Christ  is  yours?  If  so, 
then  there  is  no  reason  for  your  being  troubled  or 
dreading  any  future.  If  it  is  not,  you  are  mad  not  to 
be  troubled,  and  you  are  insane  if  you  are  not  afraid. 
The  word  for  you  is,  'Be  troubled,  ye  careless  ones,' 
for  there  is  reason  for  it,  and  be  afraid  of  that  which 
is  certainly  coming.  The  one  thing  that  gives  security 
and  makes  it  possible  to  possess  a  calm  heart  is  the 
possession  of  Jesus  Christ  by  faith.  Without  Him  it  is 
a  waste  of  breath  to  say  to  people,  '  Do  not  be  fright- 
ened,' and  it  is  wicked  counsel  to  say  to  men,  'Be  at 
ease.'  They  ought  to  be  terrified,  and  they  ought  to  be 
troubled,  and  they  will  be  some  day,  whether  they  think 
so  or  not. 

But  then  the  last  thought  from  this  exhortation  is — 
and  now  I  speak  to  Christian  people — your  imperfect 
possession  of  this  peace  is  all  your  own  fault. 


V.27]  CHRIST'S  PEACE  381 

Why,  there  are  hundreds  of  professing  Christian 
people  who  have  some  kind  of  faint,  rudimentary- 
faith,  and  there  are  many  of  them,  I  dare  say,  lis- 
tening to  me  now,  who  have  no  assured  possession 
of  any  of  those  elements,  of  which  I  have  been 
speaking,  as  the  constituent  parts  of  Christ's  peace. 
You  are  not  sure  that  you  are  right  with  God.  You  do 
not  know  what  it  is  to  possess  satisfied  desires.  You 
do  know  what  it  is  to  have  conflicting  inclinations  and 
impulses ;  you  have  envy  and  malice  and  hostility 
against  men ;  and  the  world's  storms  and  disasters  do 
strike  and  disturb  you.  Why?  Because  you  have 
not  a  firm  grasp  of  Jesus  Christ.  *  I  have  set  the  Lord 
always  at  my  right  hand,  therefore  I  shall  not  be 
be  moved';  there  is  the  secret.  Keep  near  Him,  my 
brother ;  and  then  all  things  are  fair,  and  your  heart  is 
at  peace. 

I  remember  once  standing  by  the  side  of  a  little 
Highland  loch  on  a  calm  autumn  day,  when  all  the 
winds  were  still,  and  every  birch-tree  stood  unmoved, 
and  every  twig  was  reflected  on  the  steadfast  mirror, 
into  the  depths  of  which  Heaven's  own  blue  seemed  to 
have  found  its  way.  That  is  what  our  hearts  may  be, 
if  we  let  Christ  put  His  guarding  hand  round  them  to 
keep  the  storms  off,  and  have  Him  within  us  for  our 
rest.  But  the  man  who  does  not  trust  Jesus  '  is  like 
the  troubled  sea  which  cannot  rest,'  but  goes  moaning 
round  half  the  world,  homeless  and  hungry,  rolling 
and  heaving,  monotonous  and  yet  changeful,  salt  and 
barren — the  true  emblem  of  every  soul  that  has  not 
listened  to  the  merciful  call,  'Come  unto  Me,  all  ye 
that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you 
rest.' 


JOY  AND  FAITH,  THE  FRUITS  OF  CHRIST'S 
DEPARTURE 

'  Ye  have  heard  how  I  said  unto  you,  I  go  away,  and  come  again  unto  you.  If 
ye  loved  Me,  ye  would  rejoice,  because  I  said,  I  go  unto  the  Father :  for  My  Father 
is  greater  than  I.  And  now  I  have  told  you  before  it  come  to  pass,  that,  when 
it  is  come  to  pass,  ye  might  believe.'— John  xiv.  28,  29. 

Our  Lord  here  casts  a  glance  backward  on  the  course 
of  His  previous  words,  and  gathers  together  the  sub- 
stance and  purpose  of  these.  He  brings  out  the  in- 
tention of  His  warnings  and  the  true  effect  of  the 
departure,  concerning  which  He  had  given  them  notice, 
as  being  twofold.  In  the  first  verse  of  my  text  His 
words  about  that  going  away,  and  the  going  away 
itself,  are  represented  as  the  source  of  joy,  which  is  an 
advance  on  the  peace  that  He  had  just  previously  been 
promising.  In  the  second  of  our  verses  these  two 
things — His  words,  and  the  facts  which  they  revealed — 
are  represented  as  being  the  very  ground  and  nourish- 
ment of  faith. 

So,  then,  we  have  these  two  thoughts  to  look  at  now, 
the  departed  Lord,  the  fountain  of  joy  to  all  who  love 
Him ;  the  departed  Lord,  the  ground  and  food  of  faith. 

I.  The  departure  of  the  Lord  is  a  fountain  of  joy  to 
those  who  love  Him. 

In  the  first  part  of  our  text  the  going  away  of  Jesus 
is  contemplated  in  two  aspects. 

The  first  is  that  with  which  we  have  already  become 
familiar  in  previous  sermons  on  this  chapter — viz.,  its 
bearing  upon  the  disciples;  and  in  that  respect  it  is 
declared  that  Christ's  going  is  Christ's  coming. 

But  then  we  have  a  new  aspect,  one  on  which,  in  His 
sublime  self -repression,  He  very  seldom  touches — viz., 

383 


vs.  28, 29]  JOY  AND  FAITH  383 

its  bearing  upon  Himself ;  and  in  that  aspect  we  are 
taught  here  to  regard  our  Lord's  going  as  ministering 
to  His  exaltation  and  joy,  and  therefore  as  being  a 
source  of  joy  to  all  His  lovers. 

So,  then,  we  have  these  thoughts,  Christ's  going  is 
Christ's  coming,  and  Christ's  going  is  Christ's  exalta- 
tion, and  for  both  reasons  that  departure  ought  to 
minister  to  His  friends'  gladness.  Let  us  look  at  these 
three  things  for  a  little  while. 

First  of  all,  there  comes  a  renewed  utterance  of  that 
great  thought  which  runs  through  the  whole  chapter, 
that  the  departure  of  Jesus  Christ  is  in  reality  the 
coming  of  Christ.  The  word  '  again '  is  a  supplement, 
and  somewhat  restricts  and  destroys  the  true  flow 
of  thought  and  meaning  of  the  words.  For  if  we  read, 
as  our  Authorised  Version  does,  *  I  go  away  and  come 
again  unto  you,'  we  are  inevitably  led  to  think  of  a 
coming,  separated  by  a  considerable  distance  of  time 
from  the  departure,  and  for  most  of  us  that  which  is 
suggested  is  the  final  coming  and  return,  in  bodily  form, 
of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

Now  great  and  glorious  as  that  hope  is,  it  is  too  far 
away  to  be  in  itself  a  sufficient  comfort  to  the  mourn- 
ing disciples,  and  too  remote  to  be  for  us,  if  taken  alone, 
a  sufficient  ground  of  joy  and  of  rest.  But  if  you  strike 
out  the  intrusive  word  '  again,'  and  read  the  sentence 
as  being  what  it  is,  a  description  of  one  continuous 
process,  of  which  the  parts  are  so  closely  connected  as 
to  be  all  but  contemporaneous,  you  get  the  true  idea. 
'  I  go  away,  and  I  come  to  you.'  There  is  no  gap,  the 
thing  runs  on  without  a  break.  There  is  no  moment 
of  absolute  absence ;  there  are  not  two  motions,  one 
from  us  and  the  other  back  again  towards  us,  but  all  is 
one.    The  'going'  is  the  'coming';  the  solemn  series 


384  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xiv. 

of  events  which  began  on  Calvary,  and  ended  on 
Olivet,  to  the  eye  of  sense  were  successive  stages  in 
the  departure  of  Jesus  Christ.  But  looked  at  with  a 
deeper  understanding  of  their  true  meaning,  they  are 
successive  stages  in  His  approach  towards  us.  His 
death,  His  resurrection,  His  ascension,  were  not  steps 
in  the  cessation  of  His  presence,  but  they  were  simply 
steps  in  the  transition  from  a  lower  to  a  higher  kind 
of  that  presence.  He  changed  the  limitations  and 
externalities  of  a  mere  bodily,  local  nearness  for  the 
realities  of  a  spiritual  presence.  To  the  eye  of  sense, 
the  *  going  away '  was  the  reality,  and  the  '  coming '  a 
metaphor.  To  the  eye  enlightened  to  see  things  as  they 
are,  the  dropping  away  of  the  visible  corporeal  was 
but  the  inauguration  of  the  higher  and  the  more  real. 
And  we  need  to  reverse  our  notions  of  what  is  real  and 
what  is  figurative  in  Christ's  presence,  and  to  feel  that 
that  form  of  His  presence  which  we  may  all  have 
to-day  is  far  more  real  than  the  form  which  ceased 
when  the  Shekinah  cloud  'received  Him  out  of  their 
sight,'  before  we  can  penetrate  to  the  depth  of  His 
words,  or  grasp  the  whole  fullness  of  blessing  and 
of  consolation  which  lie  in  them  here.  In  a  very  deep 
and  real  sense,  '  He  therefore  departed  from  us  for  a 
season  that  we  might  receive  Him  for  ever.' 

The  real  presence  of  Jesus  Christ  to-day,  and  through 
the  long  ages  with  every  waiting  heart,  is  the  very 
keynote  to  the  solemn  music  of  these  chapters.  And 
again  I  press  upon  you,  and  upon  myself,  the  question, 
Do  we  believe  it  ?  Do  we  live  in  the  faith  of  it  ?  Does 
it  fill  the  same  place  in  the  perspective  of  our  Christian 
creed  as  it  does  in  the  revelation  of  the  Scripture, 
or  have  we  refined  it  and  watered  it  down,  until  it 
comes  to  be  little  more  than  merely  the  continuous 


v8.28,29]  JOY  AND  FAITH  885 

influence  of  the  record  of  His  past,  just  as  any  great 
and  sovereign  spirit  that  has  influenced  mankind  may- 
still  *  rule  the  nations  from  his  urn '  ?  Or  do  we  take 
Him  at  His  word,  and  believe  that  He  meant  what  He 
said,  in  something  far  other  than  a  violent  figure  for 
the  continuance  of  His  influence  and  of  the  inspiration 
drawn  from  Him,  '  Lo !  I  am  with  you  alway,  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  world '  ?  '  Say  not  in  thine  heart, 
Who  shall  ascend  up  into  heaven?  that  is,  to  bring 
Christ  down  from  above,  the  Word,'  the  Incarnate 
Word,  *  is  nigh  thee,  in  thy  heart,'  if  thou  lovest  and 
trustest  Him. 

Then,  again,  the  other  aspect  of  our  Lord's  coming, 
which  is  emphasised  here,  is  that  in  which  it  is  re- 
garded as  affecting  Himself.  Christ's  going  is  Christ's 
exaltation. 

Now  observe  that,  in  the  first  clause  of  our  verse, 
there  is  simply  specified  the  fact  of  departure,  w^ithout 
any  reference  to  the  '  whither ' ;  because  all  that  was 
wanted  was  to  contrast  the  going  and  the  coming. 
But,  in  the  second  clause,  in  which  the  emphasis  rests 
not  so  much  upon  the  fact  of  departure  as  upon  the 
goal  to  which  He  went,  we  read :  ' I  go  ^o  the  Father' 
Hitherto  we  have  been  contemplating  Christ's  depar- 
ture simply  in  its  bearing  upon  us,  but  here,  with 
exquisite  tenderness,  He  unveils  another  aspect  of  it, 
and  that  in  order  that  He  may  change  His  disciples' 
sadness  into  joy ;  and  says  to  them,  *  If  ye  were  not  so 
absorbed  in  yourselves,  you  would  have  a  thought  to 
spare  about  Me,  and  you  would  feel  that  you  should  be 
glad  because  I  am  about  to  be  exalted.' 

Very,  very  seldom  does  He  open  such  a  glimpse  into 
His  heart,  and  it  is  all  the  more  tender  and  impressive 
when  He  does.  What  a  hint  of  the  continual  self- 
VOL.  IT.  2  b 


386  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.  xiv. 

sacrifice  of  the  human  life  of  Jesus  Christ  lies  in  this 
thought,  that  He  bids  His  disciples  rejoice  with  Him, 
because  the  time  is  getting  nearer  its  end,  and  He  goes 
back  to  the  Father!  And  what  shall  we  say  of  the 
nature  of  Him  to  whom  it  was  martyrdom  to  live,  and 
a  supreme  instance  of  self-sacrificing  humiliation  to  be 
•  found  in  fashion  as  a  man '  ? 

He  tells  His  followers  here  that  a  reason  for  their 
joy  in  His  departure  is  to  be  found  in  this  fact,  that  He 
goes  to  the  Father,  who  is  greater  than  Himself. 

Now  mark,  with  regard  to  that  remarkable  utter- 
ance, that  the  whole  course  of  thought  in  the  context 
requires,  as  it  seems  to  me,  that  we  should  suppose 
that  for  Christ  to  'go  to  the  Father'  was  to  share  in  the 
Father's  greatness.  Why  else  should  the  disciples  be 
bidden  to  rejoice  in  it  ?  or  why  should  He  say  any- 
thing at  all  about  the  greatness  of  the  Father  ?  If  so, 
then  this  follows,  that  the  greatness  to  which  He  here 
alludes  is  such  as  He  enters  by  His  ascension.  Or,  in 
other  words,  that  the  inferiority,  of  whatever  nature  it 
may  be,  to  which  He  here  alludes,  falls  away  when  He 
passes  hence. 

Now  these  words  are  often  quoted  triumphantly,  as 
if  they  were  dead  against  w^hat  I  venture  to  call  the 
orthodox  and  Scriptural  doctrine  of  the  divinity  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And  it  may  be  worth  while  to 
remark  that  that  doctrine  accepts  this  saying  as  fully 
as  it  does  Christ's  other  w^ord,  '  I  and  My  Father  are 
one.'  I  venture  to  think  that  it  is  the  only  construc- 
tion of  Scripture  phraseology  which  does  full  justice 
to  all  the  elements.  But  be  that  as  it  may,  I  wish  to 
remind  you  that  the  creed  which  confesses  the  unity 
of  the  Godhead  and  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ  is 
not  to  be  overthrown  by  pelting  this  verse  at  it ;  for 


vs.  28, 29]  JOY  AND  FAITH  387 

this  verse  is  part  of  that  creed,  which  as  fully  declares 
that  the  Father  is  greater  than  the  Son,  as  it  declares 
that  the  Son  is  One  with  the  Father.  You  may  be 
satisfied  with  it  or  no,  but  as  a  matter  of  simple 
honesty  it  must  be  recognised  that  the  creed  of  the 
Catholic  Church  does  combine  both  the  elements  of 
these  representations. 

Now  we  can  only  speak  in  this  matter  as  Scripture 
guides  us.  The  depths  of  Deity  are  far  too  deep  to  be 
sounded  by  our  plummets,  and  he  is  a  bold  man  who 
ventures  to  say  that  he  knows  what  is  impossible  in 
reference  to  the  divine  nature.  He  needs  to  have  gone 
all  round  God,  and  down  to  the  depths,  and  up  to  the 
heights  of  a  bottomless  and  summitless  infinitude, 
before  he  has  a  right  to  say  that.  But  let  me  remind 
you  that  we  can  dimly  see  that  the  very  names 
'Father'  and  'Son'  do  imply  some  sort  of  subordina- 
tion, but  that  that  subordination,  inasmuch  as  it  is  in 
the  timeless  and  inward  relations  of  divinity,  must  be 
supposed  to  exist  after  the  ascension,  as  it  existed 
before  the  incarnation;  and,  therefore,  any  such 
mysterious  difference  is  not  that  which  is  referred  to 
here.  What  is  referred  to  is  what  dropped  away  from 
the  Man  Jesus  Christ,  when  He  ascended  up  on  high. 
As  Luther  has  it,  in  his  strong,  simple  way,  in  one 
of  his  sermons,  'Here  He  was  a  poor,  sad,  suffering 
Christ ' ;  and  that  garb  of  lowliness  falls  from  Him, 
like  the  mantle  that  fell  from  the  prophet  as  he  went 
up  in  the  chariot  of  fire,  when  He  passes  behind  the 
brightness  of  the  Shekinah  cloud  that  hides  Him  from 
our  sight.  That  in  which  the  Father  was  greater  than 
He,  in  so  far  as  our  present  purpose  is  concerned,  was 
that  which  He  left  behind  when  He  ascended,  even 
the  pain,  the  suffering,  the  sorrow,  the  restrictions, 


388  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

the  humiliation,  that  made  so  much  of  the  burden 
of  His  life.  Therefore  we,  as  His  followers,  have  to 
rejoice  in  an  ascended  Christ,  beneath  whose  feet  are 
foes,  and  far  away  from  whose  human  personality  are 
all  the  ills  that  flesh  is  heir  to.  '  If  ye  loved  Me,  ye 
would  rejoice,  because  I  said,  I  go  unto  the  Father: 
for  My  Father  is  greater  than  I.' 

So  then  the  third  thought,  in  this  first  part  of  our 
subject,  is  that  on  both  these  grounds  Christ's  ascension 
and  departure  are  a  source  of  joy.  The  two  aspects 
of  His  departure,  as  affecting  Him  and  as  affecting 
us,  are  inseparably  welded  together.  There  can  be  no 
presence  with  us,  man  by  man,  through  all  the  ages> 
and  in  every  land,  unless  He,  whose  presence  it  is, 
participates  in  the  absolute  glory  of  divinity.  For  to 
be  with  you  and  me  and  all  our  suffering  brethren, 
through  the  centuries  and  over  the  world,  involves 
something  more  than  belongs  to  mere  humanity. 
Therefore,  the  two  sources  of  gladness  are  confluent — 
Christ's  ascension  as  affecting  us  is  inseparably  woven 
in  with  Christ's  ascension  as  affecting  Himself. 

Love  will  delight  to  dwell  upon  that  thought  of  its 
exalted  Lover.  We  may  fairly  apply  the  simplicity  of 
human  relationships  and  affections  to  the  elucidation 
of  what  ought  to  be  our  affection  to  Him,  our  Lord. 
And  surely  if  our  dearest  one  were  far  away  from  us, 
in  some  lofty  position,  our  hearts  and  our  thoughts 
would  ever  be  going  thither,  and  we  should  live  more 
there  than  here,  where  we  are  'cribbed,  cabined,  and 
confined.'  And  if  we  love  Jesus  Christ  with  any  depth 
of  earnestness  and  fervour  of  affection,  there  will 
be  no  thought  more  sweet  to  us,  and  none  which  will 
more  naturally  flow  into  our  hearts,  whenever  they 
are  for  a  moment  at  leisure,  than  this,  the  thought 


vs.  28, 29]  JOY  AND  FAITH  889 

of  Him,  our  Brother  and  Forerunner,  who  has  ascended 
up  on  high;  and  in  the  midst  of  the  glory  of  the 
throne  bears  us  in  His  heart,  and  uses  His  glory  for 
our  blessing.  Love  will  spring  to  where  the  beloved 
is ;  and  if  we  be  Christians  in  any  deep  and  real  sense, 
our  hearts  will  have  risen  with  Christ,  and  we  shall 
be  sitting  with  Him  at  the  right  hand  of  God.  My 
brother,  measure  your  Christianity,  and  the  reality 
of  your  love  to  Jesus  Christ,  by  this — is  it  to  you 
natural,  and  a  joy,  to  turn  to  Him,  and  ever  to  make 
present  to  your  mind  the  glories  in  which  He  loves 
and  lives,  and  intercedes,  and  reigns,  for  you  ?  '  If  ye 
love  Me,  ye  will  rejoice,  because  I  go  unto  the  Father.' 

II.  And  now  I  can  deal  with  the  second  verse 
of  our  text  very  briefly.  For  our  purpose  it  is  less 
important  than  the  former  one.  In  it  we  find  our 
Lord  setting  forth,  secondly,  His  departure  and  His 
announcement  of  His  departure  as  the  ground  and 
food  of  faith. 

He  knew  what  a  crash  was  coming,  and  with 
exquisite  tenderness,  gentleness,  knowledge  of  their 
necessities,  and  suppression  of  all  His  own  feelings 
and  emotions,  He  gave  Himself  to  prepare  the  dis- 
ciples for  the  storm,  that,  forewarned,  they  might  be 
forearmed,  and  that  when  it  did  burst  upon  them,  it 
might  not  take  them  by  surprise. 

So  He  does  still,  about  a  great  many  other  things, 
and  tells  us  beforehand  of  what  is  sure  to  come  to 
us,  that  when  we  are  caught  in  the  midst  of  the 
tempest  we  may  not  bate  one  jot  of  heart  or  hope. 

•  Why  shoiild  I  complain 

Of  want  or  distress. 
Temptation  or  pain  ? 
He  told  me  no  less.' 


390  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

And  when  my  sorrows  come  to  me,  I  may  say  about 
them  what  He  says  about  His  departure — He  has  told 
us  before,  that  when  it  comes  we  may  believe. 

But  note  how,  in  these  final  words  of  my  text, 
Christ  avows  that  the  great  aim  of  His  utterances 
and  of  His  departure  is  to  evoke  our  faith.  And  what 
does  He  mean  by  faith  ?  He  means,  first  of  all,  a  grasp 
of  the  historic  facts — His  death,  His  resurrection.  His 
ascension.  He  means,  next,  the  understanding  of 
these  as  He  Himself  has  explained  them — a  death  of 
sacrifice,  a  resurrection  of  victory  over  death  and  the 
grave,  and  an  ascension  to  rule  and  guide  His  Church 
and  the  world,  and  to  send  His  divine  Spirit  into  men's 
hearts  if  they  will  receive  it.  And  He  means,  there- 
fore, as  the  essence  of  the  faith  that  He  would  produce 
in  all  our  hearts — a  reliance  upon  Himself  as  thus 
revealed,  Sacrifice  by  His  death,  Victor  by  His  resurrec- 
tion, King  and  interceding  Priest  by  His  ascension — 
a  reliance  upon  Himself  as  absolute  as  the  facts  are 
sure,  as  unfaltering  as  is  His  eternal  sameness.  The 
faith  that  grasps  the  Christ,  dead,  risen,  ascended, 
as  its  all  in  all,  for  time  and  for  eternity,  is  the  faith 
which  by  all  His  work,  and  by  all  His  words  about 
His  work.  He  desires  to  kindle  in  our  hearts.  Has 
He  kindled  it  in  yours  ? 

Then  there  is  a  second  thought — viz.,  that  these 
facts,  as  interpreted  by  Himself,  are  the  ground  and 
the  nourishment  of  our  faith.  How  differently  they 
looked  when  seen  from  the  further  side  and  when  seen 
from  the  hither  side!  Anticipated  and  dimly  antici- 
pated, they  were  all  doleful  and  full  of  dismay;  re- 
membered and  looked  back  upon,  they  were  radiant 
and  bright.  The  disciples  felt,  with  shrinking  hearts 
and  fainting  spirits,  that  their  whole  reliance  upon 


vs.  28, 29]  JOY  AND  FAITH  891 

Jesus  Christ  was  on  the  point  of  being  shattered,  and 
that  everything  was  going  when  He  died.  '  We  trusted,' 
said  two  of  them,  with  such  a  sad  use  of  the  past 
tense,  '  we  trusted  that  this  had  been  He  which  should 
have  redeemed  Israel.  But  we  do  not  trust  it  any 
more,  nor  do  we  expect  Him  to  be  Israel's  Redeemer 
now.'  But  after  the  facts  were  all  unveiled,  there 
came  back  the  memory  of  His  words,  and  they  said  to 
one  another,  '  Did  He  not  tell  us  that  it  was  all  to  be 
so  ?    How  blind  we  were  not  to  understand  Him  ! ' 

And  so  'the  Cross,  the  grave,  the  skies,'  are  the 
foundations  of  our  faith ;  and  they  who  see  Him  dying^ 
rising,  ascended,  henceforth  will  find  it  impossible  to 
doubt.  Feed  your  faith  upon  these  great  facts,  and 
take  Christ's  own  explanation  of  them,  and  your  faith 
will  be  strong. 

Again,  we  learn  here  that  faith  is  the  condition  of 
the  true  presence  of  our  absent  Lord.  Faith  is  that 
on  our  side  which  corresponds  to  His  spiritual  coming 
to  us.  Whosoever  trusts  Him  possesses  Him,  and  He 
is  with  and  in  every  soul  that,  loving  Him,  relies  upon 
Him,  in  a  closeness  so  close  and  a  presence  so  real  that 
heaven  itself  does  not  bring  the  spirit  of  the  believer 
and  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  nearer  one  another,  though 
it  takes  away  the  bodily  film  that  sometimes  seems  to 
part  their  lives. 

We,  too,  may  and  should  be  glad  when  we  lift  our 
eyes  to  that  Throne  where  our  Brother  reigns.  We 
too,  may  be  glad  that  He  is  there,  because  His  being 
there  is  the  reason  why  He  can  be  here ;  and  we,  too, 
may  feed  our  faith  upon  Him,  and  so  bring  Him  in 
very  deed  to  dwell  in  our  hearts.  If  we  would  have 
Christ  within  us,  let  us  trust  Him  dying,  rising,  living 
in  the  heavens;  and  then  we  shall  learn  how,  by  all 


392  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

three  apparent  departures,  He  is  drawing  the  closer  to 
the  souls  that  love  and  trust. 


CHRIST  FORESEEING  HIS  PASSION 

'  Hereafter  I  will  not  talk  much  with  you :  for  the  Prince  of  this  world  cometh, 
and  hath  nothing  in  Me.  But  that  the  world  may  know  that  I  love  the  Father ; 
and  as  the  Father  gave  Me  commandment,  even  so  I  do.  Arise,  Let  us  go 
hence.'— John  xiv.  30, 31. 

The  summons  to  departure  which  closes  these  verses 
shows  that  we  have  now  reached  the  end  of  that 
sacred  hour  in  the  upper  room.  In  obedience  to  the 
summons,  we  have  to  fancy  the  little  group  leaving 
its  safe  shelter,  as  sailors  might  put  out  from  behind 
a  breakwater  into  a  stormy  sea.  They  pass  from  its 
seclusion  and  peace  into  the  joyous  stir  of  the  crowded 
streets,  filled  with  feast-keeping  multitudes,  on  whom 
the  full  paschal  moon  looked  down,  pure  and  calming. 
Somewhere  between  the  upper  chamber  and  the  cross- 
ing of  the  brook  Kedron,  the  divine  words  of  the 
following  chapters  were  spoken,  but  this  discourse, 
closely  connected  as  it  is  with  them,  reaches  its  fitting 
close  in  these  penetrating,  solemn  words  of  outlook 
into  the  near  future,  so  calm,  so  weighty,  so  resolute, 
so  almost  triumphant,  with  which  Christ  seeks  finally 
to  impart  to  His  timorous  friends  some  of  His  own 
peace  and  assurance  of  victory. 

They  lead  us  into  a  region  seldom  opened  to  our 
view,  and  never  to  be  looked  upon  but  with  reverent 
awe.  For  they  tell  us  what  Christ  thought  about 
His  sufferings,  and  how  He  felt  as  He  went  down 
to  that  cold,  black  river,  in  which  He  was  to  be  bap- 
tized. 'Put  off  thy  shoes  from  off  thy  feet,  for  the 
place  where  thou  standest  is  holy  ground.' 


vs.  30, 31]     FORESEEING  HIS  PASSION     393 

So,  reverently  listening  to  the  words,  sacred  because 
of  the  Speaker,  the  theme,  and  the  circumstances, 
v^e  note  in  them  these  things:  His  calm  anticipation 
of  the  assailant,  His  unveiling  of  the  secret  and  motive 
of  His  apparent  defeat,  and  His  resolute  advance  to 
the  conflict.    Let  us  look  at  these  three  points. 

I.  First,  we  have  here  our  Lord's  calm  anticipation 
of  the  assailant. 

•  Hereafter  I  will  not  talk  much  with  you :  for  the 
Prince  of  this  world  cometh,  and  hath  nothing  in  Me.' 
One  of  the  other  Gospels  tells  us,  in  finishing  its 
account  of  our  Lord's  temptation  in  the  wilderness, 
that  when  Satan  had  ended  all  these  temptations  '  he 
departed  from  Him  for  a  season.'  And  now  we  have 
the  second  and  the  intenser  form  of  that  assault.  The 
first  was  addressed  to  desires,  and  sought  to  stimulate 
ambition  and  ostentation  and  the  animal  appetites, 
and  so,  through  the  cravings  of  human  nature,  to 
shake  the  Master's  fixed  faith.  The  second  used  sharper 
and  more  fatal  weapons,  and  appealed,  not  to  desire 
of  enjoyment,  or  ease,  or  good,  but  to  the  natural 
human  shrinking  from  pain  and  suffering  and  shame 
and  death.  He  that  was  impervious  on  the  side  of 
natural  necessities  and  more  subtle  spiritual  desires 
might  yet  be  reached  through  terror.  And  so  the 
second  form  of  the  assault,  instead  of  tempting  the 
traveller  by  the  sunshine  to  cast  aside  his  cloak, 
tempted  him  by  storm  and  tempest  to  fling  it  aside ; 
and  the  one,  as  the  other,  was  doomed  to  failure. 

Note  how  the  Master,  with  that  clear  eye  which 
saw  to  the  depths  as  well  as  the  heights,  and  before 
which  men  and  things  were  but,  as  it  were,  trans- 
parent 7nedia  through  which  unseen  spiritual  powers 
wrought,   just  as  He    discerns    the    Father's  will   as 


394  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xiv. 

supreme  and  sovereign,  sees  here  —  beneath  Judas's 
treachery,  and  Pharisees'  and  priests'  envy,  and  the 
people's  stolid  indifference,  and  the  Roman  soldiers' 
impartial  scorn — the  workings  of  a  personal  source 
and  centre  of  all.  The  'Prince  of  this  world,'  who 
rules  men  and  things  when  they  are  severed  from 
God,  *  Cometh.'  Christ's  sensitive  nature  apprehends 
the  approach  of  the  evil  thing,  as  some  organisations 
can  tell  when  a  thunderstorm  is  about  to  burst.  His 
divine  Omniscience,  working  as  it  did,  even  within  the 
limits  of  humanity,  knows  not  only  when  the  storm 
is  about  to  burst  upon  Him,  but  knows  who  it  is  that 
has  raised  the  tempest.  And  so  He  says,  '  The  Prince 
of  this  world  cometh.' 

But  note,  as  yet  more  important,  that  tremendous 
and  unique  consciousness  of  absolute  invulnerability 
against  the  assaults.  'He  hath  nothing  in  Me.'  He 
is  'the  Prince  of  the  world,'  but  His  dominion  stops 
outside  My  breast.  He  has  no  rule  or  authority  there. 
His  writs  do  not  run,  nor  is  His  dominion  recognised, 
within  that  sacred  realm. 

Was  there  ever  a  man  who  could  say  that?  Are 
there  any  of  us,  the  purest  and  the  noblest,  who, 
standing  single-handed  in  front  of  the  antagonistic 
power  of  evil,  and  believing  it  to  be  consolidated  and 
consecrated  in  a  person,  dare  to  profess  that  there  is 
not  a  thing  in  us  on  which  he  can  lay  his  black  claw 
and  say — 'That  is  mine?'  Is  there  nothing  injflam- 
mable  within  us  which  the  *  fiery  darts  of  the  wicked ' 
can  kindle?  Are  there  any  of  us  who  bar  our  doors 
so  tightly  as  that  we  can  say  that  none  of  his 
seductions  will  find  their  way  therein,  and  that 
nothing  there  will  respond  to  them  ?  Christ  sets  Him- 
self here  against  the  whole  embattled  and  embodied 


vs.  30,  31]    FORESEEING  HIS  PASSION      395 

power  of  evil,  and  puts  Himself  in  contrast  to  the 
universal  human  experience,  when  He  calmly  declares 
'He  hath  nothing  in  Me.'  It  is  an  assertion  of  His 
absolute  freedom  from  sinfulness,  and  it  involves,  as 
I  take  it,  the  other  assertion — that  as  He  is  free  from 
sin,  so  He  is  not  subject  to  that  consequence  of  sin, 
which  is  death,  as  we  know  it.  Another  part  of 
Scripture  speaks  to  us  in  strange  language,  which 
yet  has  in  it  a  deep  truth,  of  '  him  that  had  the 
power  of  death,  that  is,  the  devil.'  Men  fall  under 
the  rightful  dominion  of  the  king  of  evil  when  they 
sin,  and  part  of  the  proof  of  his  dominion  is  the  fact 
of  physical  death,  with  its  present  accompaniments. 
Thus,  in  His  calm  anticipation,  Jesus  stands  waiting 
for  the  enemy's  charge,  knowing  that  all  its  forces 
will  be  broken  against  the  serried  ranks  of  His  im- 
maculate purity,  and  that  He  will  come  from  the 
dreadful  close  unwounded  all,  and  triumphant  for 
evermore. 

But  do  not  let  us  suppose  that  because  Christ,  in 
His  anticipation  of  suffering  and  death,  knew  Him- 
self invulnerable,  with  not  even  a  spot  on  His  heel 
into  which  the  arrow  could  go,  therefore  the  conflict 
was  an  unreal  or  shadowy  one.  It  was  a  true  fight» 
and  it  was  a  real  struggle  that  He  was  anticipating, 
thus  calmly  in  these  solemn  words,  as  knowing  Him- 
self the  Victor  ere  He  entered  on  the  dreadful  field. 

II.  So  note,  secondly,  in  these  words,  our  Lord's 
unveiling  of  the  motive  and  aim  of  His  apparent 
defeat. 

'But  that  the  world  might  know  that  I  love  the 
Father,  and,  as  the  Father  gave  Me  commandment, 
even  so  I  do.'  There  may  be  some  uncertainty  about 
the  exact  grammatical  relation  of  these  clauses  to  one 


396  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.  xiv. 

another,  with  which  I  need  not  trouble  you,  because  it 
does  not  affect  their  substantial  meaning.  However 
we  solve  the  mere  grammatical  questions,  the  funda- 
mental significance  of  the  whole  remains  unaffected, 
and  it  is  this :  that  Christ's  sufferings  and  death  were, 
in  one  aspect,  for  the  purpose  that  the  world  might 
know  His  love  to  the  Father,  and,  in  another  aspect, 
were  obedience  to  the  Father's  commandment.  And 
if  we  consider  these  two  aspects,  I  think  we  shall  get 
some  thoughts  worth  considering  as  to  the  way  in 
which  the  Master  Himself  looks  upon  these  sufferings 
and  that  death. 

The  first  point  I  note  in  this  division  of  my  discourse 
is,  that  Christ  would  have  us  regard  His  sufferings 
and  His  death  as  His  own  act.  Note  that  remarkable 
phrase,  *  thus  I  do.'  A  strange  word  to  be  used  in  such 
a  connection,  but  full  of  profound  meaning.  We 
speak,  and  rightly,  of  the  solemn  events  of  these 
coming  days  as  the  passion  of  our  Lord,  but  they  were 
His  action  quite  as  much  as  His  passion.  He  was  no 
mere  passive  sufferer.  In  them  all  He  acted,  or,  as  He 
says  here,  we  may  look  upon  them  all,  not  as  things 
inflicted  upon  Him  from  without  by  any  power,  how- 
ever it  might  seem  to  have  the  absolute  control  of  His 
fate,  but  as  things  which  He  did  Himself. 

There  is  one  Man  who  died,  not  of  physical  necessity, 
but  because  of  free  choice.  There  is  one  Man  who 
chose  to  be  born,  and  who  chose  to  die ;  who,  in  His 
choosing  to  be  born,  chose  humiliation,  and  who,  in 
choosing  to  die,  chose  yet  deeper  humiliation.  This 
sacrifice  was  a  voluntary  sacrifice,  or,  to  speak  more 
accurately.  He  was  both  Priest  and  Sacrifice,  when 
'  through  the  Eternal  Spirit  He  offered  Himself  with- 
out spot  unto  God.'    The  living  Christ  is  the  Lord  of 


vs.  30, 31]     FOKESEEING  HIS  PASSION    397 

Life,  and  lives  because  He  will ;  the  dying  Christ  is  the 
Lord  of  Death,  and  dies  because  He  chose.  He  would 
have  us  learn  that  all  His  bitter  sufferings,  inflicted 
from  without  as  they  were,  and  traceable  to  a  deeper 
source  than  merely  human  antagonism,  were  also 
self-inflicted  and  self -chosen,  and  further  traceable  to 
the  Father's  will  in  harmony  with  His  own.  'Thus  I 
do,'  and  thus  He  did  when  He  died. 

Then,  further,  our  Lord  would  have  us  regard  these 
sufferings  and  that  death  as  being  His  crowning  act  of 
obedience  to  His  Father's  will.  That  is  in  accordance 
with  the  whole  tone  of  His  self-consciousness,  especially 
as  set  before  us  in  this  precious  Gospel  of  John,  which 
traces  up  everything  to  the  submission  of  the  divine 
Son  to  the  divine  Father,  a  submission  which  is  no 
mere  external  act,  but  results  from,  and  is  the  ex- 
pression of,  the  absolute  unity  of  will  and  the  per- 
fect oneness  of  mutual  love.  And  so,  because  He 
loved  the  Father,  therefore  He  came  to  do  the  Father's 
will,  and  the  crowning  act  of  His  obedience  was  this, 
that  He  was  *  obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death  of 
the  Cross.'  It  was  a  voluntary  sacrifice,  but  that 
voluntariness  was  not  self-will.  It  was  a  sacrifice  in 
obedience  to  the  Father's  will,  but  that  obedience  was 
not  reluctant.  Christ  was  the  embodiment  of  the 
divine  purpose,  formed  before  the  ages  and  realised  in 
time,  when  He  bowed  His  head  and  yielded  up  the 
ghost.  The  highest  proof  of  His  filial  obedience  was 
the  Cross.  And  to  it  He  points  us,  if  we  would  know 
what  it  is  to  love  and  obey  the  Father. 

Now  it  is  to  be  noticed  that  this  motive  of  our 
Lord's  death  is  not  the  usual  one  given  in  Scripture. 
And  I  can  suppose  the  question  being  put,  *  Why  did 
not  Jesus  Christ  say,  in  that  supreme  moment,  that  He 


398  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.xiv. 

went  to  the  Cross  because  of  His  love  to  us  rather  than 
because  of  His  love  to  the  Father  ? '  But  I  think  the 
answer  is  not  far  to  seek.  There  are  several  satis- 
factory ones  which  may  be  given.  One  is  that  this 
making  prominent  of  His  love  to  God  rather  than  to 
us,  as  the  motive  for  His  death,  is  in  accordance  with 
that  comparative  reticence  on  the  part  of  Jesus  as  to 
the  atoning  aspect  of  His  death,  which  I  have  had  fre- 
quent occasion  to  point  out,  and  which  does  not  carry 
in  it  the  implication  that  that  doctrine  was  a  new  thing 
in  the  Christian  preaching  after  Pentecost.  Another 
reason  may  be  drawn  from  the  whole  strain  and  tone 
of  this  chapter,  which,  as  I  have  already  said,  traces 
up  everything  to  the  loving  relations  of  obedience 
between  the  Father  and  Son.  And  yet  another  reason 
may  be  given  in  that  the  very  statement  of  Christ's 
love  to  God,  and  loving  obedience  to  the  Father's 
commandment  as  the  motive  of  His  death,  includes  in 
it  necessarily  the  other  thing — love  to  us.  For  what 
was  the  Father's  commandment  which  Christ  with 
all  His  heart  accepted,  and  with  His  glad  will  obeyed 
unto  death  ?  It  was  that  the  Son  should  come  as  the 
Ransom  for  the  world.  The  Son  of  man  was  sent, '  not 
to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  His 
life  a  Ransom  for  many.'  Or,  as  He  Himself  said,  in 
one  of  His  earliest  discourses,  '  God  so  loved  the  world 
that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever 
believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish.'  And  for  what 
He  gave  that  Son  is  clearly  stated  in  the  context  itself 
of  that  passage  — '  As  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent 
in  the  wilderness,  even  so  must  the  Son  of  Man  be 
lifted  up.' 

To    speak    of    Christ's    acceptance    of  the  Father's 
commandment,    then,  is  but  another   way  of  saying 


vs.  30,31]     FORESEEING  HIS  PASSION     399 

that  Christ,  in  all  the  fullness  of  His  self-surrender, 
entered  into  and  took  as  His  own  the  great,  eternal 
divine  purpose,  that  the  world  should  be  redeemed  by 
His  death  upon  the  Cross.  The  heavenward  side  of 
His  love  to  man  is  His  love  to  the  Father,  God. 

Now  there  is  another  aspect  still  in  which  our  Lord 
would  here  have  us  regard  His  sufferings  and  death, 
and  that  is  that  they  are  of  worldwide  significance. 

Think  for  a  moment  of  the  obscurity  of  the  speaker, 
a  Jewish  peasant  in  an  upper  room,  with  a  handful 
of  poor  men  around  Him,  all  of  them  ready  to  forsake 
Him,  within  a  few  hours  of  His  ignominious  death; 
and  yet  He  says,  *  I  am  about  to  die,  that  the  echo  of 
it  may  reverberate  through  the  whole  world.'  He 
puts  Himself  forth  as  of  worldwide  significance,  and 
His  death  as  adapted  to  move  mankind,  and  as  one 
day  to  be  known  all  over  the  world.  There  is  nothing 
in  history  to  approach  to  the  gigantic  arrogance  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  it  is  only  explicable  on  the  ground 
of  His  divinity. 

'This  I  do  that  the  world  may  know.'  And  what 
did  it  matter  to  the  world  ?  Why  should  it  be  of 
any  importance  that  the  world  should  know?  For 
one  plain  reason,  because  true  knowledge  of  the 
true  nature  and  motive  of  that  death  breaks  the 
dominion  of  the  Prince  of  this  world,  and  sets  men 
free  from  his  tyranny.  Emancipation,  hope,  victory, 
purity,  the  passing  from  the  tyranny  of  the  darkness 
into  the  blessed  kingdom  of  the  light — all  depend  on 
the  world's  knowing  that  Christ's  death  was  His  own 
voluntary  act  of  submission  to  the  infinite  love  and 
will  of  the  Father,  which  will  and  love  He  made 
His  own,  and  therefore  died,  the  sacrifice  for  the 
world's  sin. 


400  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN       [ch.xiv. 

The  enemy  was  approaching.  He  was  to  be  hoist 
with  his  own  petard.  *  He  digged  a  pit ;  he  digged  it 
deep,'  and  into  the  pit  which  he  had  digged  he  himself 
fell.  '  Oh,  death !  I  will  be  thy  plague '  by  entering 
into  thy  realm.  '  Oh,  grave !  I  will  be  thy  destruction ' 
by  dwelling  for  a  moment  within  thy  dark  portals  and 
rending  them  irreparably  as  I  pass  from  them.  The 
Prince  of  this  world  was  defeated  when  he  seemed  to 
triumph,  and  Christ's  mighty  words  came  true :  '  Now 
shall  the  Prince  of  this  world  be  cast  out.'  He  would 
have  the  world  know — with  the  knowledge  which  is  of 
the  heart  as  well  as  the  head,  which  is  life  as  well  as 
understanding,  which  is  possession  and  appropriation — 
the  mystery,  the  meaning,  the  motive  of  His  death, 
because  the  world  thereby  ceases  to  be  a  world,  and 
becomes  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ. 

III.  Lastly,  notice  here  the  resolute  advance  to  the 
conflict. 

'Arise,  let  us  go  hence' — a  word  of  swift  alacrity. 
Evidently  He  rose  to  His  feet  whilst  they  lay  round 
the  table.  He  bids  them  rise  with  Him  and  follow 
Him  on  the  path. 

But  there  is  more  in  the  words  than  the  mere  close  of 
a  conversation,  and  a  summons  to  change  of  place. 
They  indicate  a  kind  of  divine  impatience  to  be  in  the 
fight,  and  to  have  it  over.  The  same  emotion  is  plainly 
revealed  in  the  whole  of  the  latter  days  of  our  Lord's 
life.  You  remember  how  His  disciples  followed  amazed, 
as  He  strode  up  the  road  from  Jericho,  hastening  to 
His  Cross.  You  remember  His  deliberate  purpose  to 
draw  upon  Himself  public  notice  during  that  dangerous 
and  explosive  week  before  the  Passover,  as  shown  in 
the  publicity  of  His  entry  into  Jerusalem,  His  sharp 
rebukes  of  the  rulers  in  the  Temple,  and  in  every  other 


vs.  30, 31]     FORESEEING  HIS  PASSION      401 

incident  of  those  days.  You  remember  His  words  to 
the  betrayer :  '  That  thou  doest,  do  quickly.'  These 
latter  hours  of  the  Lord  were  strongly  marked  by  the 
emotion  to  which  He  gave  utterance  in  His  earlier 
words :  '  I  have  a  baptism  to  be  baptized  with,  and  how 
am  I  straitened  till  it  be  accomplished  ! '  Perhaps  that 
feeling  indicated  His  human  shrinking ;  for  we  all 
know  how  we  sometimes  are  glad  to  precipitate  an 
unwelcome  thing,  and  how  the  more  we  dread  it,  the 
more  we  are  anxious  to  get  it  over.  But  there  is  far 
more  than  that  in  it.  There  is  the  resolved  determina- 
tion to  carry  out  the  Father's  purpose  for  the  world's 
salvation,  which  was  His  own  purpose,  and  was  none 
the  less  His  though  He  knew  all  the  suffering  which  it 
involved. 

Let  us  adore  the  steadfast  will,  which  never  faltered, 
though  the  natural  human  weakness  was  there  too, 
and  which,  as  impelled  by  some  strong  spring,  kept 
persistently  pressing  towards  the  Cross  that  on  it  He 
might  die,  the  world's  Redeemer. 

And  do  not  let  us  forget  that  He  summoned  His 
lovers  and  disciples  to  follow  Him  on  the  road.  '  Let 
us  go  hence.'  It  is  ours  to  take  up  our  cross  daily  and 
follow  the  Master,  to  do  with  persistent  resolve  our 
duty,  whether  it  be  welcome  or  unwelcome,  and  to  see 
to  it  that  we  plant  no  faltering  and  reluctant  foot 
in  our  Master's  footsteps.  For  us,  too,  if  we  have 
learned  to  flee  to  the  Cross  for  our  redemption  and 
salvation,  the  resolve  of  our  Redeemer  and  the  very 
passion  of  the  Saviour  itself  become  the  pattern  and 
law  of  our  lives.  We,  too,  have  to  cast  ourselves  into 
the  fight,  and  to  take  up  our  cross, '  that  the  world  may 
know  that  we  love  the  Father,  and  as  the  Father  hath 
given  us  commandment.'  And  if  we  so  live,  then  our 
VOL.  II.  2  c 


402  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN        [ch.xiv. 

death,  too,  in  some  humble  measure,  may  be  like  His 
— the  crowning  act  of  obedience  to  the  Father's  will ; 
in  which  we  are  neither  passively  nor  resistingly 
dragged  under  by  a  force  that  we  cannot  effectually 
resist,  but  in  which  we  go  down  willingly  into  the 
dark  valley  where  death  'makes  our  sacrifice  complete.' 


BND  OF  VOL.  II. 


Date  Due 


*v  ., ,  i;; 


